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Added on the 16/11/2022 16:49:08 - Copyright : AFP EN
The Artemis program marks the first step in the new era of human exploration. Together with commercial and international partners like JAXA, NASA hopes to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to launch missions to Mars. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Toyota are also contributing to the programme. MHI will do so through the development of the LUPEX – acronym in English for the Lunar Polar Expedition – and Toyota through the joint development of a manned lunar rover with JAXA. With this "Lunar Cruiser", Toyota hopes to apply the honed technologies used in the extreme conditions of the Moon on Earth.
NASA unveils its Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 2 space mission, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in Florida. The mission scheduled for late 2024, will take a crew of four astronauts to the Moon. IMAGES
NASA launched the most powerful rocket ever built on a journey to the Moon on Wednesday, marking the start of the space agency's new flagship program, Artemis. The 32-story tall Space Launch System (SLS) blasted off from the storied Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 01:47 am (0647 GMT). IMAGES
NASA scraps its launch of a 30-story rocket due to orbit the Moon, citing a fuel leak in delaying the mission for a second time. The leak occurred as liquid hydrogen was being pumped into the rocket. No new date for another try was immediately announced. IMAGES
A test flight of NASA's powerful new Moon rocket may be possible on Friday, Artemis 1 mission manager Mike Sarafin says, after the US space agency scrubbed Monday's launch because of an engine issue. "Friday is definitely in play," Sarafin tells reporters. SOUNDBITE
Scientists used to say there were millions of tons of ice in the permanently shadowed craters of the moon’s poles. Now, HuffPost reports a pair of studies in the journal Nature Astronomy says there's far, far more potential water available. Twenty percent more, to be exact. A team led by the University of Colorado's Paul Hayne says more than 15,400 square miles of lunar terrain have the capability to trap water in the form of ice. However, lead researcher Casey Honniball says the molecules are so far apart that they are in neither liquid nor solid form. To be clear, this is not puddles of water. Casey Honniball, Lead Researcher Postdoctoral fellow, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland Greater access to water could allow astronauts and robots more places to land, and support future lunar bases. Scientists believe the moon's water came from comets, asteroids, interplanetary dust, solar wind, or even lunar volcanic eruptions.