After years of preparation, Orion was launched on November 16th. The idea is that the spacecraft should take people back to the moon in a few years. It was now circling the moon unmanned to test all systems. The return flight started just over a week ago. And with success, because according to the American space agency NASA, the spacecraft is doing better than expected.
Also listen | Spacecowboys: Artemis I Finally Launched & Big European Space News!
Two pieces
The vessel, consisting of two parts, has the American part at the front where the crew will later have to sit. On the back is the European part, which includes the drive and the Dutch solar panels that generate electricity. Shortly before reentry into the atmosphere, the two parts detach from each other. The European part burns up in the atmosphere, and the American part has to slow down and eventually end up gently in the Pacific Ocean west of Mexico, hanging on parachutes. The so-called splashdown is scheduled for 18:39 Dutch time. A warship then hoists him out of the water and brings him to shore.
Japanese company
Today not only does a spaceship arrive at Cape Canaveral Space Base, it has also departed. That of the Japanese company ispace. That company wants to put a lander on the moon in a controlled way next year. So far only the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia and China have managed to do this. The takeoff had been delayed a few times lately due to the need for further checks on the rocket.
Finally, ispace wants to mine raw materials and water on the moon. This could help build a manned base on the moon. The Hakuto-R mission is intended to test its design and technology. The Japanese are collaborating with space agencies in the United States and Europe to exploit the moon.
Explorer
The lander won’t go alone, scout Rashid will go with it as well. This was developed by the UAE. The trolley will carry out scientific research with cameras and sensors and will have to circle the moon for about two weeks. Rashid weighs about 10 kilos, is over 50 centimeters long and wide and about 70 centimeters tall. In 2020, an Emirati satellite went to Mars.
Commercial
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, has launched the lander and orbiter into space. It is uncertain whether the lander will actually be the first commercial device to land on the moon. The ship does not take the shortest route. First it goes up to 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, four times as far away as the Moon. As a result, it probably won’t make it to the moon until the end of April next year. Next spring, two more commercial landers (Nova-C and Peregrine) will also go to the moon. It is not yet clear which of the three will arrive first.