Artemis 2 launch (1 Viewer)

oscillatewildly said:

Maybe I missed the brief or ‘mission statement’ as it were.
But what is the aim (other than the moon) of this latest launch?
What discoveries are they hoping to make that weren’t learned from the last Apollo launch in the early ‘70s?

Click to expand...

chiefdave said:

You can apply the same thing to all missions:

commercial - largely undertaken by private companies these days, this is the 'easy' and therefore profitable stuff
scientific - from the technology developed to actually get there to the experiments done on board
military - governments generally don't put the type of funding needed if there's not a military angle
get there first - nothing kicks governments into gear like the idea someone else will do something, in this case the Chinese

For Artemis itself this is mission 2, obviously hence the name, of 5 planned missions. Essentially following the same process they have used in the past, including Apollo. Each mission builds on the last.

So the first was an unmanned flight to test the space launch system & the Orion spacecraft and complete a lunar orbit. The current mission is the next stage, a manned lunar orbit.

3 will be to test the lunar landers, 4 will be a lunar landing, and 5 will a second lunar landing and starting work on a permanent moonbase.

That base is then planned to be use for work towards a manned mission to Mars.

Click to expand...

chiefdave said:

You can apply the same thing to all missions:

commercial - largely undertaken by private companies these days, this is the 'easy' and therefore profitable stuff
scientific - from the technology developed to actually get there to the experiments done on board
military - governments generally don't put the type of funding needed if there's not a military angle
get there first - nothing kicks governments into gear like the idea someone else will do something, in this case the Chinese

For Artemis itself this is mission 2, obviously hence the name, of 5 planned missions. Essentially following the same process they have used in the past, including Apollo. Each mission builds on the last.

So the first was an unmanned flight to test the space launch system & the Orion spacecraft and complete a lunar orbit. The current mission is the next stage, a manned lunar orbit.

3 will be to test the lunar landers, 4 will be a lunar landing, and 5 will a second lunar landing and starting work on a permanent moonbase.

That base is then planned to be use for work towards a manned mission to Mars.

Click to expand...

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:

Thing I get with using the moon as a base to get to Mars, it's like me going on a trip to Australia and having a stopover at the end of my garden.

Click to expand...

ajsccfc said:

I've not been to the space centre itself but seen a live launch from the town across the way, it's a magical sight to see.

Click to expand...

Johnnythespider said:

Probably the only thing that would get me to the U.S would be to see a launch, but I'd have to fly in just before and out straight after.

Click to expand...