Back to the Moon: Artemis II materializes with the arrival of Orion and the assembly of the SLS

Things seem to be clarified for the Artemis II mission and its crew made up of the USAs Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who will leave around the moon for a 10 -day journey within a little less than a year.

Advertising, your content continues below

After many doubts and severe criticisms of Elon Musk, who finds that going back to the moon is “A distraction” And that its starship is much more suitable than the SLS launcher of Boeing, the Missions Artemis II and undoubtedly Artemis III will go well according to the planned architecture.

The Orion capsule arrived at the Kennedy space center

Artemis II will be the third flight for this Orion capsule, which had experienced some damage during Artemis I in November 2022, with thermal tiles having undergone large damage following the phenomenal thrust of the SLS, the super-heavy launcher of the new lunar missions.

As a reminder, this mission has already been late, because originally scheduled for 2024. NASA has since regularly asked its providers to accelerate their rates in the hope of maintaining the American return to the soil of the moon in 2027 with Artemis III. But this last mission requires great advances on the side of the starship which, although impressive, is still very far from being able to transport astronauts in space. And what to say to land on the moon, an extremely delicate operation.

The Space Launch System rocket about to be fully assembled

This same May 1st (not a holiday with our friends across the Atlantic) is the giant Space Launch System rocket that took a big step towards space. The ICP module (for interim cryogenic propulsion internship) was stacked on the overpowered lunar launcher.

If the SLS will fly well for Artemis II and Artemis III, it is likely this launcher is then abandoned, because too expensive: each launch would cost between 3.5 and 4.5 billion dollars and the Trump administration wants to make drastic savings on the NASA budget.

Advertising, your content continues below

Want to save even more? Discover our selected promo codes for you.