DC Edit | Success Of Moonshot Key To Man’s Space Ambitions
The story of human endurance may gain a booster shot as the toilet is being fixed in what is a very familiar tale of the mechanics of waste management. The real essence of the Nasa mission is, however, to push the boundaries of human reach, which is what makes the flight of the Artemis II so important
There would have been tense moments as astronauts flying far into space where no man or woman had been before suffered radio silence for 20 minutes in their Moon flyby that would have taken early today — at approximately 4.17 am Indian time.
The most modern technology of the Artemis II moonshot, including the space launch system of the Orion capsule, is expected to ensure that they would be safely in contact with mission control again. Maybe, they would have had to bear the slight burning smell coming from a malfunctioning toilet though.
The story of human endurance may gain a booster shot as the toilet is being fixed in what is a very familiar tale of the mechanics of waste management. The real essence of the Nasa mission is, however, to push the boundaries of human reach, which is what makes the flight of the Artemis II so important.
This desire to take man to places he has never been to before stems from an ability to imagine an existence somewhere in space as our beloved Planet Earth is getting pounded by warmongers even as it is beset by myriad other problems. To have a colony on the Moon as a sort of stepping stone to finding a more inhabitable environment far beyond the Earth’s most familiar satellite and finding a haven to save mankind is an ideal and Artemis II is just the first step in that process.
There will be thrills galore as the astronauts catch sight of the dark side of the Moon, unseen by human eyes. They have already had glimpses of never-seen-before sights like a portion of the Orientale basin as only robotic imagers have so far witnessed this part of the lunar landscape, which is a key transition region between the near and far sides of the Moon.
The cynic may question why we are taking astronauts on a capsule ride 7,400 km beyond the Moon when Nasa landed astronauts there 57 years ago for Neil Armstrong to take his famous, “Small step for man but a giant leap for mankind.” One of the objectives of the mission is to conduct geological observations of the lunar surface from a unique high-altitude perspective, in short, a crucial preparation for future missions.
Maybe, man lost sight of the Moon for a while as unmanned spacecraft were sent as probes to planets way beyond home and the current mission is being run with an eye on landing people on the Moon (again) in two years’ time.
But, given gender-based equality initiatives that feature the post-modern age, they are hoping a woman and a person of colour will be sent on the 2028 Artemis IV mission to share the experience of life in zero gravity as they land near the Lunar South Pole.
The critical flight test will bring in a wealth of data and human experience, with the functioning of the life support system and heat shield performance, besides studying radiation levels in deep space and sheltering procedures inside Orion to protect against solar flares. Testing the capacity to support humans in deep space is vital if ambitions to go way beyond the Moon are to be fulfilled. And colonising space may not be a daydream. The pity is man needs to plan this if only because of his display of self-destructive tendencies on Earth.
