For this third installment of Swipe Into Space, take the Artemis mission to the moon! While the Orion capsule is back on Earth demonstrating the success of Artemis I, all of this is just the beginning of a much more ambitious mission: returning humans to the moon!
After more than 25 days of travel, the Orion capsule has been back on earth since December 11th. It is therefore an achievement for the first stage of the Artemis program! It predicts humans will return to the moon by 2025, after more than 50 years without anyone having set foot on the lunar soil! We talk a lot about the first people to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, but much less about the last ones: Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan, during the Apollo 17 mission on December 14, 1972.
This time, NASA’s new Artemis program is much more ambitious, while its cost has already exceeded a few billion dollars, with postponements and many technical problems… and should be around $100 billion by 2025!
Watch Episode 3 of Swipe In Space: Return to the Moon
Which astronauts will fly to the moon in 2025?
If Artemis I’s flight was uninhabited, his goal remained to prove that the Orion capsule could actually accommodate people on board! A project to be carried out in 2025 during the Artemis III mission, which will embark at least one man and one woman whose identities we do not yet know. For example, it could be the second French astronaut just selected by the European Space Agency: Sophie Adenot! Her exemplary career propelled her to the rank of space star alongside Thomas Pesquet, her predecessor. Before her, Claudie Haigneré was the first French woman in space, taking off aboard a Soyuz rocket in 1996. It’s been 27 years since there was a new French hope in space!
But, by the way, what will the astronauts be able to eat during this long journey on board a spacecraft? A far cry from the gourmet fare found on Earth, these are often sous vide fare, with a few caveats… and a menu designed in advance to please everyone. Because obviously it’s impossible to change your mind along the way! It is also envisaged that the astronauts will prepare their meals, an idea currently being studied by the various space agencies around the world!