NASA says Artemis I Mission is proceeding as per plan

The Orion spacecraft, which is at the core of NASA’s historic Artemis I mission, reached its farthest distance from Earth. It shattered the earlier record for the maximum distance a spacecraft designed to carry humans has ever traveled. NASA confirmed that the Orion capsule had reached about 270,000 miles from Earth. This is the midpoint of its uncrewed mission around the moon. This distance is more than 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon. Apollo 13 mission in 1970 holds the previous record for the farthest a human-rated spacecraft has traveled. That mission had humans on board and it had stretched out to 248,655 miles from our home planet. The goal of the present Artemis I mission is to test the Orion capsule to its limits. The objective is to ensure that the vehicle is ready to host humans. The trial run is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the 1970s. In a program of this nature, there could be problems and these have not posed any problems. Orion Program Manager Howard Hu said the spacecraft’s performance has been “outstanding.” In fact, the spacecraft is outperforming expectations in some respects. An example is producing about 20 percent more power than needed. NASA’s Orion spacecraft reaches record-breaking distance from Earth on Artemis I mission. The satisfactory progress of work impressed NASA. It plans to add seven additional mission objectives. These will gather additional data about the spacecraft’s capabilities and performance.

The spacecraft will swoop back toward the moon before firing its engines exit its current trajectory and head back toward Earth. The Orion capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on December 11. Experts will keep a watch on the behavior of the heat shield. After landing, Orion must safely deploy parachutes to ensure a gentle ocean splashdown. A NASA recovery ship will be ready to haul the Orion capsule to safety. The success of Artemis I mission will mean NASA will proceed to choose a crew to fly on the Artemis II mission. This could take off as soon as 2024. Its mission would be to fly around the moon but not land on its surface. That will be mission of Artemis III in 2025. It will be unique because it will include the first woman and the first person of color to achieve such a milestone.

Some popular stories of this blogger –

England on alert - the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) warns flooding from heavy rainfall could double in the next three decades

The Sunderbans in the delta of the Ganges in West Bengal plans to introduce home stay in order to improve tourism

Mauna Loa volcano, the world’s largest active volcano, erupts for the first time in nearly four decades

UNESCO want to assign endangered status to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia does not agree

Police in Alberta, Canada, chase ostriches escaped from their enclosure, one of the birds killed when hit by a car

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan quits as head of the governing Democratic Progressive Party after loss in election

International Space Station to grow tomatoes, SpaceX will carry the seeds

Kim Jong-un seen in public with his daughter, speculations are rife on her future

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might not attend this year’s Christmas celebrations in Sandringham

NASA shelves Artemis I unmanned mission to the moon and back while China tries to keep abreast of America

China is becoming Asia’s rapidly growing space power. It is progressing on its own program to put both robotic and crewed spacecraft on the lunar surface. It wants to keep pace with NASA-led achievements. Ambitious plans of China include sample-return missions from the Moon, landings at the South Pole and sending astronauts there on a short-term visit. In 2024, there are plans to collect rock samples from the far side of the moon. Incidentally, in 2019, China became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Subsequently, Chang’e-5 mission in 2020 carried out the first sampling of lunar material in over four decades. It brought 1.731 grams of lunar rocks to Earth. Then Chang’e-6 plans to collect fresh samples. China’s Moon Missions Shadow NASA Artemis’s Pace. Study of these samples could provide answers to the geological past of the Moon. That is what a planetary scientist of the University of Manchester, England.

The next mission would be Chang’e-6 in 2024. It will focus on the lunar south pole where NASA plans to land Artemis 3 crewed mission. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the country’s main space contractor. It is developing a new rocket that will be specifically meant for launching astronauts beyond low Earth orbit. NASA is leading humanity’s journey to the moon, but China is not too far behind. It is gradually accumulating capabilities for its long-term ambitions.

Some popular stories of this blogger –

I removed my heart blockage without surgery 20 years back and am still active

Money is flying in the wind - Kolkata could rename itself as the City of Crorepatis

Cheetahs went extinct in India in 1953 and the first batch of 12 new animals will arrive from South Africa soon

Tropical storm Kay strikes parts of Southern California with winds of over 100 mph

North Korea declares itself as a nuclear weapons state

The Royal family and the world paid tributes to Queen Elizabeth II who passed away peacefully at the age of 96

Virat Kohli scores a century against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022, India registers a convincing win

Bengalis of Kolkata love mouthwatering dishes and Khaibaar Pass helps them choose the best

Kolkata loves variety in foods and the Kokattans have their favorite food joints

NASA locates India's 'lost' Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is India's first lunar probe and it was believed to have been lost because Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with it on August 29, 2009, almost a year after it was launched on October 22, 2008.
Scientists of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California have discovered that it is not lost but still circling nearly 200-Km above the surface of the Moon. NASA has located it by using a new ground-based radar technique.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 10 March 2017.

NASA was searching for its own LRO and it was quite easy because they were working in league with the mission's navigators and had precise orbit data where it was located. However, finding Chandrayaan-1 required a bit more detective work. This was because o its size - it is a very small cube about 1.5 meters on each side and is about half the size of a smart car. Finding such a tiny object was a challenge.
The JPL team used NASA's 70-metre antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed towards the Moon. The radar echoes bounced back from lunar orbit were then received by the 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. That is how the lost Chandrayaan-1 was found 380,000 kilometres away.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Barack Obama enters the league of top US Presidents with ranking of 12

Public tours of the White House will begin again from March 7

Explosion in French nuclear power plant in a non-nuclear zone


Didi caught in the whirlpool of industries (satire)

Moody’s love hate relationship with the raincoat (satire)

The curse of social media – cold blooded murders committed


Mumbai will get to see Justin Bieber in action on May 10

Kangana Ranaut is 'fearless Julia' in Rangoon

Shakti Kapoor holds his audience spellbound in the Khandagiri Yatra


ISIS carries out car bombing in Baghdad - kills at least 55

Suicide bomb attack kills at least 72 in a Sufi shrine in Pakistan

Mayor of London worried about ISIS attacks on the city

Team Indus to compete in $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE to send a rover to the Moon

Team Indus is a private entity from India who have set their sights on winning the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. It will be another step in India's Moon Mission since it has signed a contract with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to send a rover to the lunar surface.
Under the deal, ISRO will extend assistance to Team Indus to launch a spacecraft to the lunar surface using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) next year.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 2 December 2016.

The launch is scheduled to take place in December 2017 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Google had announced the competition in 2007 and Team Indus is the only Indian team competing for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE.
To win the prize, privately-funded teams would have to land their spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 metres, and broadcast high definition video, images, and data back to Earth. The team wants to not only win the prize but also wants to plant the flag Indian flag on the Moon surface on Republic Day January 26, 2018.
The mission, also referred to as "Moon 2.0", will make Team Indus the first private entity in the world to soft-land on the surface of the Moon.
Incidentally, the Team Indus Spacecraft has been designed and developed in Bengaluru by a 100-person engineering team that include 20 retired ISRO scientists. Team Indus is the only Asian team left in the race and it will be competing against 29 teams from 17 countries to win the grand prize and an additional prize worth US$5 million.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

President Pranab Mukherjee to be present for Vikramshila Mahotsav

Baliyatra fair on the banks of the Mahanadi sees over one lakh visitors on opening day

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to bury the hatchet and work together to fight terrorism


Lord Shiva and long ATM queues - bullock carts and ATM don't gel (satire)

Moody fires cannons to eliminate mosquitoes (satire)

Fuchka Festival in Kolkata and selfies (satire)


Spanish police arrest two suspected ISIS terrorists in Barcelona and Madrid

At least 52 killed and more than 100 injured in a bomb blast at a remote Sufi shrine in Pakistan

Joint action by RFA, Royal Navy and US Coast Guard nets huge haul of cocaine from the sea


La La Land to have its Indian premiere at the Jio MAMI Film Club

Jackie Chan gets an Oscar after a 56-year career

Spider-Man: Homecoming will see Michael Keaton as Spider-Man's main adversary Vulture