Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Specialists did not classify it as a catastrophic failure, but it was a clear sign that something was wrong and could put lives at risk. In response, NASA halted the program’s progress. Artemis II did not advance until Orion underwent a redesign of the armor, testing of new materials, and a complete recalibration of the thermal models. The dream of returning to the moon was delayed by nearly two years.
The history of space is full of moments when a problem during reentry forced entire missions to stop or reconsider. The Soyuz 1 case in 1967 is one of the most remembered. The lead capsule orbited Earth, but its parachute system failed during reentry, and the spacecraft hit Earth at full speed. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov died and the program was suspended for 18 months.
For NASA, tragedy struck in 2003. A foam fragment struck the shuttle Columbia’s left wing during launch, damaging its heat shield. No one discovered the defect. Upon return, heat penetrated the structure and the spacecraft disintegrated. All seven crew members died. The shuttle program was halted for two years and eventually cancelled.
There is no room for improvisation in return. Artemis II is critical to the lunar program because it must prove that conditions are right to safely transport humans to and back from the Moon. If that last stage is not flawless, the program will stop.
Partly because of this, the expected moon landing It was transferred to Artemis IVIt is scheduled to take place before 2030. Artemis III will be an intermediate mission, less exciting but more important, dedicated to validating systems, suits and maneuvers. This will ensure that when the time comes to set foot on the moon, there is as little as possible left to chance.
This story originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish It was translated from Spanish.