Recent reports gathered say that humans can live on Moon for longer periods in this decade.
It is not just SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s view, the US space agency also thinks that humans could stay on the Moon for a longer period, this decade.
Matter of factly, Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft programme for NASA, told the BBC that the Artemis missions “enable us to have a sustainable platform and transportation system that allows us to learn how to operate in that deep space environment.”
Hence he maintains, “We’re going to be sending people down to the surface and they’re going to be living on that surface and doing science,” Hu was quoted as saying in the report that came out on Sunday.
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He continued stressing that, “It’s really going to be very important for us to learn a little bit beyond our Earth’s orbit and then take a big step when we go to Mars.”
In the meantime, five days into the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion continues on its trajectory towards the Moon.
By this last Sunday, the uncrewed Orion had travelled 2,32,683 miles from Earth and was 39,501 miles from the Moon, cruising at 371 miles per hour.
Therefore, “It’s the first step we’re taking to long-term deep space exploration, for not just the United States but for the world,” said explained.
He added: “I mean, we are going back to the Moon; we’re working towards a sustainable programme and this is the vehicle that will carry the people that will land us back on the Moon again.”
Significantly, the US space agency last week sent its next-generation rocket into space as part of its ambitious, uncrewed Artemis I Moon mission which faced two failed attempts amid years of delays and billions of dollars spent.
However, the Space Launch System rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida and sent the Orion spacecraft on its way to Moon’s orbit.
And interestingly, the Orion will continue onward to the Moon, which it will orbit for several days before its likely return to the Earth on December 11.
And by 2025, NASA plans to launch the first crewed Moon landings since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. That will include the first woman and the first person of colour to walk on the Moon.
So, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate NASA’s commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
