NASA has begun conducting water drop tests on its Orion Spacecraft. This spacecraft has been selected for the revolutionary Artemis Space Mission.
Researchers and engineers performed these tests at NASA’s Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia.
The purpose of carrying out the tests was to get a clear picture and analyze the possible outcomes for the upcoming space mission.
When astronauts will return to Earth in that aircraft, it is crucially important to keep all the challenges and possibilities in mind.
“The @NASA_Orion spacecraft is making a big splash! Engineers at @NASA_Langley began a series of four water impact drop tests to better understand what Orion & its crew may experience when they land in the Pacific Ocean after #Artemis missions to the Moon,” tweeted Kathy Lueder, head of NASA’s human spaceflight program
The Water Drop Test And Mission Artemis
The tests began earlier this week, it actually helped researchers to have an idea of what Orion and its crew members will face when landing in the Pacific Ocean after the planned Artemis missions to the moon.
Reportedly, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the 322-foot-high Space Launch System (SLS), which is set to be used in Artemis I at the end of the year.
During the first Artemis mission, the SLS rocket will send an Orion without a crew. It will be going on a flight around the lunar planet and back to Earth – completing the first of three missions.
NASA is planning to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024 so as to achieve their goal of exploring the lunar surface in more detail. At the same time, preparing for the next step which is to send astronauts to Mars.
Artemis I is going to happen in 2021 without astronauts and Artemis II will fly with the crew in 2023.
How Important Are These Space Missions?
The importance of these missions and the data we receive from them is very significant.
Considering the current tests, data retrieved from the water impact tests are part of the formal qualification test program. It is essential to fulfilling the structural design and requirement verification before Artemis II takes place.
NASA strongly believes, “We will build sustainable elements on and around the Moon that allow our robots and astronauts to explore more and conduct more science than ever before.”
We cannot emphasize enough, how critical these missions are. Unfortunately, challenges and obstacles are a part of such ambitious journeys.
To successfully complete these space missions, necessary funding, sustainable temperature, sufficient technology, and many other elements are required.
The Previous ‘Mission Apollo’ has made some significant contributions in the technology and the development of the nation. Like, Digital Flight Control was a system that was unheard of. But, After Apollo, NASA and its partners spent years in developing this system for airplanes. Presently, this fly-by-wire technology is very common in automobiles.
According to various reports, the world’s first practical rechargeable hearing aid batteries, which debuted in 2013, were built on extensive work NASA did during and after Apollo.
Therefore, it is expected that the technology created for Artemis will undeniably have different applications on earth.
The benefits of space missions are unfathomable and they are one of the biggest contributions in the field of science.
