NASA is a few weeks away from the launch of its first Artemis flight to the moon this month and you can learn all about the mission in this week’s free webcast.
Artemis 1, NASA’s unmanned deep-space test flight of its Orion spacecraft and massive Space Launch System vehicle, is scheduled to launch around the moon on August 29. To pave the way for the mission, NASA will hold a mission briefing on Wednesday (August 3) along with a detailed mission brief on Friday (August 5), and you’ll be able to watch both events for free online on NASA’s website. (Opens in a new tab)NASA TV and NASA app (Opens in a new tab).
“Artemis 1 is an uncrewed flight test, the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon,” NASA officials wrote in an announcement. (Opens in a new tab). “Through the Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first people of color on the moon, paving the way for a long-term presence on the moon and serving as a springboard to send astronauts to Mars.”
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Mission: Live Updates
more: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in pictures
This week’s first NASA Artemis 1 press conference will take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), where the agency will host a mission overview. The briefing is expected to last one hour and will feature the following speakers:
- NASA Administrator Bill Nelson;
- Bhavya Lal, Associate Director of Technology, Policy and Strategy at NASA Headquarters;
- Mike Sarafin, Artemis 1 mission manager at NASA Headquarters;
- Charlie Blackwell Thompson, Artemis 1 launch manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida (mission launch site);
- John Honeycutt, Space Launch System Program Manager with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala;
- Howard Ho, Orion Program Manager, with NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.
After a briefing on Wednesday, NASA will host an information day at Artemis 1 at the Johnson Space Center, home to the agency’s team of astronauts. This media day will be on Friday (August 5) and will include a detailed briefing on the Artemis 1 mission at 11:30AM EDT (1530 GMT). This briefing will include the following speakers:
- Debbie Kurth, Deputy Director of the Orion Program at JSC;
- Rick Labrode, Artemis I Principal Flight Director for JSC;
- Judd Freeling, Director of Artemis I Ascent/Entry JSC;
- Melissa Jones, Director of Artemis I Recovery at KSC;
- Reed Wiseman, JSC astronaut;
- Philippe Deleu, Orion European Service Module Program Director, with the European Space Agency.
“The first briefing will provide an overview of the Artemis 1 mission, and the second briefing will delve deeper into the timeline of the Artemis 1 mission and spacecraft operations,” NASA officials said in the announcement.
Related: How NASA’s Artemis Lunar Landing Works for Astronauts
Artemis 1 is a mission test flight that will launch the Orion spacecraft around the moon to test the technologies NASA needs to support the return of astronauts to the lunar surface. A Moonikin mannequin, cubes, and other experiences will launch inside Orion on a journey around the moon and back to Earth.
If all goes well, NASA will follow the Artemis 1 mission with a manned flight around the moon, called Artemis 2, in 2024. The Artemis 3 mission is the mission that will land astronauts on the moon, with SpaceX’s Starship serving as the moon. Landing for that flight. This journey is expected sometime after Artemis 2.
Email Tariq Malik on tmalik@space.com or follow him @DonaldTrump. Follow us Tweet embedAnd the FaceBook And the Instagram.
#NASA #preview #Artemis #lunar #mission #week #Heres #watch #free