Introduction and Monthly Reminders
What's up with the weather?! I know I have brought this up a lot lately, but the weather has been so inconsistent over the past few weeks. In Northern Utah, we have experienced 80° weather followed by freezing temperatures and snow, only for the temperatures to jump back into the 70's. Not to mention the storms usually arrive on the weekends, when most observers have the chance to take out their astronomy gear to enjoy the night sky! We will catch a break soon, I'm sure.
Artemis 2 successfully launched on April 1st at approximately 4:35 PM for Utahns. I was able to listen to most of the prelaunch program while at work. When the hosts announced that there were only a few minutes to launch, I paused my work (don't tell my boss!) and grabbed my phone to watch the launch live. It was such an amazing experience to watch on my mobile device, so I can only imagine how those who witnessed the launch with their own eyes must have felt. This launch has certainly reinvigorated and reinforced my love for astronomy, physics, and math & science in general.
The four astronauts safely returned to Earth on Friday, April 10th. I was able to watch and listen to the whole event, which was quite an amazing experience in my opinion. I'm sure my wife would have preferred to watch or do something else, but I appreciate her letting me stream the event.
The second half of April still has lots to offer observers. The upcoming major meteor shower, the Lyrids, peaks during the morning hours on the 22nd. There is also a rare triple planetary conjunction on the 20th involving Mercury, Saturn, and Mars. This conjunction occurs shortly before sunrise and may require binoculars or a telescope to tease out Mars and Saturn in the brightening morning sky. Jupiter remains a great target for binoculars and telescopes for the remainder of the month, too. Don't forget about Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), which will reach peak visibility during the middle of April in the constellation Pegasus.
Future of Artemis
Last month, I was planning on covering a different topic for this midmonth post, but I am on such an Artemis high, and I hope others are as well, that I thought a discussion on the future of the Artemis program would be a better topic. I won't go into much detail on the missions because they're likely to change, but I'll provide a general overview of the current plans.
I'll begin at the beginning, with Artemis 1. This mission was launched on November 16th, 2022, and returned to Earth 25 days later on December 11th. The purpose of this mission was to test the new Space Launch System (SLS) rockets and the Orion spacecraft. When it returned to Earth, it also gave crews the chance to practice for when astronauts return to Earth in the same capsule. It also allowed for the recovery of the capsule and testing the equipment to do so.
Following Artemis 1, we had Artemis 2, of course. Between the first and second missions, engineers fixed known issues to improve future missions and ensure the astronauts on board would be safe. There was a leak in Artemis 2, which caused the mission to be postponed while it was evaluated and fixed before launch on April 1st. A few more minor issues occurred during the mission, including a faulty fan and pump in the Universal Waste Management System (the toilet), which were fixed during the mission, and some radio issues after splashdown. These and other issues will be resolved before the launch of Artemis 3.
Artemis 3 is scheduled to launch sometime in 2027 and will test the docking capabilities of Orion and other spacecraft in low Earth orbit. It will also test the integrated operations of SpaceX and/or Blue Origin's commercial landers designed to land on the Moon.
Artemis 4 is expected to launch in 2028 and will send humans back to the Moon. Not just to orbit, but also to land on the surface near the South Pole to take samples of this region for a potential future Moon base.
I've been asked why the Artemis mission is such a big deal, since we have already been to the Moon, conducted science experiments on the surface, and collected rock and dust samples. And why not use the old launch vehicle, like the Saturn V, used during the Apollo Era? The second part is a short and easy-to-answer question. The Saturn V is old technology. The new SLS rocket is more efficient and is designed for longer missions than the Saturn V and the Apollo program was. The Apollo mission was to put a human on the Moon and learn more about its surface, geology, and plate tectonics.
This leads to the first question: why is Artemis a big deal, and why go back to the Moon? For me, Artemis is a big deal because it's about space exploration, which I love and am deeply interested in. I would love to travel to another planet and fly between the stars. While I know that I, personally, will never get to do those things, and flying between the stars will never happen in my lifetime, I believe that one day we will have the technology and means to do that, and the Artemis program is a stepping stone for that, just like the space programs were that came before, like Apollo and Mercury. Going back to the Moon is a jumping point for getting humans to Mars and beyond. The Moon is a good starting point because it is close, only 250,000 miles (!) away, so it's easier to get to and get humans back to Earth if the need arises. While a Moon base and the permanent establishment of humans on the Moon are several years away, we need to study the environment so we know what we would need to take with us and what can be utilized on the Moon's surface. Perhaps more importantly, by building a base on the Moon, fewer resources would be required to travel to Mars and beyond. Leaving Earth's surface requires multistage rockets to reach a velocity of 11.2 km/s. Leaving the surface of the Moon requires only approximately 2.4 km/s due to its lack of atmosphere and weaker gravitational pull.
There are also economic and political reasons for having a permanent base on the Moon. While these reasons don't interest me as much, others may find them important. The Moon has valuable resources that can be mined or otherwise extracted for use in manufacturing and industry. Political matters interest me even less since I believe we should all be working together or at least competing in a way that allows each competitor to grow stronger, but unfortunately, not everyone feels the same.
Perhaps the most important part of the Artemis program is to get individuals interested in space and the sciences in general.
Show that you support dark skies, like me, by being one of the first Utahns to get a Dark Sky license plate! Visit Dark Sky Utah to apply for a new license plate for your vehicle.
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| Now get outside and look up! |
