Last month, the four astronauts selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission gathered in a plain classroom at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was a significant moment for the crew as they were revealed to the public, marking the first time people would fly around the Moon since 1972.
The crew’s introduction to the public took place in April, accompanied by exciting fanfare, and they even appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. As the launch date approaches, estimated for late 2024 or 2025, there is growing anticipation for the historic mission.
Over the next 18 months, the Artemis II mission crew members will find themselves occupied with various activities, including attending classroom sessions, traveling on airplanes, and engaging in simulator exercises. During these training sessions, instructors impart crucial knowledge for the mission’s success.
The simulator training will be particularly challenging as the crew will have to handle various malfunctions and anomalies that might occur in space. These simulations are meant to test their ability to troubleshoot and resolve potential failures that could jeopardize the mission or endanger their lives in the worst-case scenario.
Preparation for Lunar Orbit and Deep Space Operations
Jacki Mahaffey, NASA’s leading training officer for the Artemis II mission, emphasizes imparting the necessary knowledge and skills to the crew. The goal is to provide ample opportunities to immerse themselves in mockup displays and spacecraft environments to enhance their learning experience.
Commander Reid Wiseman and his crewmates, including pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, were appointed to the Artemis II crew on April 3. In the following two-and-a-half months, much of their time was dedicated to a public relations tour involving interviews, visits to NASA centers across the country, meetings on Capitol Hill, and even meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Artemis II crew received a pre-training pep talk from Charlie Duke, a former astronaut who walked on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972. NASA hasn’t trained a crew to fly to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission at the end of 1972, the last time astronauts set foot on the lunar surface. Duke, 87 years old, expressed his excitement to meet with the Artemis II crew and other members of NASA’s astronaut corps.
The Artemis II crew began their official training on June 21. They received a high-level overview of the mission’s flight plan, the Orion spacecraft, and the Space Launch System rocket. The training focused on fundamentals and familiarization with the spacecraft’s displays and operations. The mission will last about 10 days, starting with a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the mission, the crew will perform critical checkouts of the ship’s life support systems and test the spacecraft’s ability to approach another object in space. This is essential for future Artemis missions that involve rendezvousing with a lunar landing craft in a deep area.
NASA’s Artemis II: Ambitious Journey to the Moon
NASA’s Artemis II spacecraft is preparing for its ambitious journey to the Moon. It uses a unique “hybrid free return trajectory” with gravity to guide the crew back to Earth without requiring major course corrections. The upcoming outbound trip, expected to last about four days, will take the astronauts more than 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) behind the far side of the Moon before making a direct return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Depending on the Moon’s position in its orbit at launch, the mission could set a record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth.
To ensure the mission’s success, NASA is eager to commence “operationally focused” training for the Artemis II astronauts. Training will begin with lessons on operating the Orion spacecraft, followed by simulations to practice various tasks that will be performed inside the capsule during space travel. These tasks include mission-critical engine burns, food preparation, and even using the bathroom in space.
Once the crew members have a solid grasp of the spacecraft’s design and capabilities, they will move on to emergency training. This phase will involve scenarios that explore potential issues with the spacecraft systems and how the crew can respond effectively in such situations. Training will cover on-orbit procedures, entry and splashdown operations, and launch and ascent operations.
The training process won’t be limited to just the astronauts. The mission control team in Houston will also be actively involved in simulations with the Artemis II crew, ensuring seamless coordination between the astronauts and ground support during the mission.
Safety and Emergency Preparedness Training
The Artemis II mission represents an exciting and challenging milestone in space exploration, and NASA is dedicated to ensuring the crew’s preparedness for this historic journey.
Most Artemis II training will occur at the astronauts’ home base in Houston. Alongside their classroom and simulator sessions, the crew members will also head to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a large pool near the Johnson Space Center primarily used for spacewalk training. Interestingly, no spacewalks are scheduled for Artemis II. Still, the collection will simulate exiting the Orion spacecraft in a water environment, similar to a sea landing scenario.
As part of their training itinerary, the Artemis II crew will venture outside Houston for the first time to visit San Diego. During this trip, they will meet the US Navy recovery team, responsible for welcoming them into the Pacific Ocean upon the mission’s conclusion.
Moreover, one of their regular training destinations will be the Kennedy Space Center. Here, they will collaborate closely with the Artemis launch team and the closeout crew, who will assist them in securing their seats before liftoff. Additionally, the astronauts will undergo training exercises with US military pararescue forces, who will be on standby to locate and rescue the crew in case of a launch abort or a splashdown off-target.
Challenges and Considerations for Sustaining Funding and Progress in the NASA’s Artemis II Program
The upcoming Artemis III mission follows in the footsteps of Artemis II, marking the next major step in the Moon program, with the ambitious goal of landing humans on the lunar surface. Like Artemis II, four astronauts will embark on this exciting journey using the reliable SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. However, the real highlight of Artemis III lies in its collaboration with SpaceX’s cutting-edge Starship rocket, which will serve as the commercial human-rated landing vehicle.
Once the SLS and Orion reach space, they will rendezvous with SpaceX’s Starship, transporting two astronauts to a landing site near the Moon’s South Pole. There, they will conduct a series of moonwalks, exploring and conducting experiments in this unique lunar environment. After completing their mission on the Moon, the astronauts will launch back into space using Starship and rendezvous with Orion for the return journey to Earth.
Artemis III is a significant step forward in NASA’s plans to establish regular crew flights to the Moon. However, meeting this goal comes with challenges. The costs associated with the entirely expendable SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft and the necessary ground system expenses amount to a substantial $4.2 billion per mission, projected up to Artemis IV, set to launch in 2028.
Sustaining funding for the Artemis launch vehicle and crew capsule could potentially strain NASA’s budget, impacting other crucial elements of the lunar program. Although the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft demonstrated excellent performance during the Artemis I test flight last year, SpaceX and Blue Origin, NASA’s lunar lander providers, are still in earlier design and testing phases. The new spacesuits designed for astronauts walking on the Moon are also developing.
