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  • NASA is heading back to the moon, but this time, instead of taking one step, theyre

  • hoping for a much longer stay.

  • It’s been 50 years since Neil Armstrong took that fateful step pronouncing those 10

  • words that changed the history of spaceflight: “One small step for man, one giant leap

  • for mankind.” But since the final Apollo mission in 1972, there’s been a hold on

  • lunar exploration until recently.

  • In 2019, NASA announced its plans to return to the moon with the exciting news of sending

  • the first woman and man to the Moon’s south pole by 2024. The lunar program also got a

  • new moniker: Artemis after the Greek goddess of the Moon and, fittingly, Apollo’s twin sister

  • Reaching the moon by 2024 is of course an idealized timeline and is heavily dependent

  • on funding. The new Artemis mission is estimated to cost twenty to thirty billion dollars over the next

  • five years. To fast track the effort, the White House has requested an additional one point six

  • billion but that’s yet to be confirmed.

  • Cost aside, with the successful test of the Orion capsule in early July, NASA may just

  • be one step closer to returning to the Moon.

  • The Orion spacecraft is built to carry crew members beyond low-Earth orbit.

  • It’s composed of three major parts: a launch abort system or LAS, which would separate

  • the spacecraft from the rocket if an accident were to occur during launch; a crew module,

  • where astronauts would live and work; and a service module, which is essential to the

  • crew as it provides life support and energy, in addition to the spacecraft’s propulsion

  • system. Ensuring the functionality of each of these components is crucial for the survival

  • of the astronauts. And on July 2, 2019, the Orion test spacecraft passed a full stress

  • test to ensure its launch abort system was able to outrun a speeding rocket and pull

  • the crew module to safety.

  • But in order to get to deep space, the Orion capsule will need some help. And this is where

  • it's rocket comes in. The Orion capsule will be hitching a ride on the Space Launch System

  • or SLS, a rocket that is currently being built. The SLS is designed to carry Orion into deep

  • space, with missions to the Moon and Mars.

  • The SLS will have multiple configurations for each of its missions. Its first will be

  • the Block 1, designed for an uncrewed mission beyond the moon. A subsequent planned configuration

  • is the Block 1B vehicle, which will be a manned cargo mission, and next is the Block 2 crew,

  • expected to be NASA’s workhorse, shuttling cargo to the Moon, Mars, and other deep space

  • missions.

  • And it’s with the Artemis 1 mission that the world’s most powerful rocket will take

  • its first test, making it the first integrative flight of Orion and the SLS. Standing at roughly

  • 98 meters and weighing around 2,600 metric tons, the SLS Block 1 will generate

  • 39,144 kilonewtons of thrust at liftoff. That’s about 15 percent

  • more power than the Saturn V rocket. It will be able to carry more than 26 metric

  • tons of cargo to orbits beyond the Moon, with later upgrades hoping to shuttle at least

  • 45 metric tons. Once the SLS is completed, NASA says it will be the only rocket with

  • the power necessary to carry astronauts and payloads beyond Earth’s orbit and into deep

  • space.

  • Now that we have the capsule and the rocket covered, the last piece of the puzzle is the

  • deep space outpost called the Gateway, and it’s a key element to landing astronauts

  • on the lunar surface. Located roughly 400,000 km away from Earth, the Gateway

  • will be a small space station that will orbit the Moon, allowing for the Orion spacecraft

  • to dock, where it will serve as a base for astronauts to conduct scientific experiments,

  • expeditions, and get accustomed to living in deep space.

  • Crew members will visit the Gateway at least once a year for up to three months at a time

  • and unlike the International Space Station which is the size of a six bedroom house,

  • the Gateway will only be the size of a small studio apartment. In order to visit the lunar

  • surface, astronauts would take a reusable lunar landing system down to the surface to

  • explore and NASA is looking to the commercial sector to fulfill this need. The system would

  • need to include elements for descent, ascent, transfer, refueling, and a surface suit.

  • As for the construction of the gateway, plans are already underway. NASA hopes to send up

  • large portions of the spaceship for automatic assembly on roughly six rocket launches, which

  • is a steal considering that it took 34 launches to build the ISS.

  • So youre probably wondering, when Artemis will take flight? While the Gateway is expected

  • to be completed in 2024, the unmanned test mission, known as Artemis 1, is expected to

  • launch before 2021 and should last about three weeks. The first manned mission, Artemis 2

  • will launch in 2022, orbiting our lunar neighbour before returning to Earth. But it’s in 2024

  • that NASA will finally revisit the lunar surface in over 50 years. In fact, Artemis 3 will

  • deliver pioneering astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole for the very first time.

  • But the Artemis program isn’t just important for the lunar exploration. Preparing astronauts

  • for life on the Gateway will allow for more studies on how the human body responds to

  • life in deep space and provide more opportunities for exploration. Long-term, the Artemis program

  • hopes to create a lunar colony by 2028, an essential pit-stop for getting a manned mission

  • to Mars.

  • There are plenty of upcoming launches, so if there’s a specific one you’d like us

  • to cover, let us know in the comments below. And if you liked

  • this episode, make sure to tune in to Discovery’s Confessions from Space Apollo airing tonight,

  • tonight July 20th.

  • Here's a preview:

  • "if you're gonna accomplish something,

  • you're gonna have to take risks."

  • "We were close,

  • to not being able to come home."

  • "and then, bingo!–"

  • the moon was in your window"

  • "John Young told me, 'Don't touch this handle. I'm the driver'"

  • "yeah!"

  • "I just look, in awe, at this incredibly

  • beautiful planet."

  • "It's one small step for man,

  • one giant leap, for mankind."

  • Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe. I’ll see you next time on Seeker.

NASA is heading back to the moon, but this time, instead of taking one step, theyre

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