Artemis II: Arizona science, businesses helped launch new moon mission

PHOENIX – As Artemis II begins its historic mission to the moon and back, it’s also inspiring younger kids, including those in Arizona.

The backstory:

Artemis II lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, sending four astronauts on a 10-day mission into deep space, around the moon, and back to Earth.

According to officials, the mission will orbit Earth for a day, travel to the moon for a flyby beyond its far side, and then return along a free-return trajectory, culminating in the Orion spacecraft’s reentry and a Pacific Ocean splashdown.

Big picture view:

We mentioned before that some businesses in Arizona played a role in the mission. Besides Honeywell, Northrop Grumman also played a role. 

“The solid rocket boosters, those big white boosters on either side of main core orange rocket, we are headquartered in Arizona with the responsibility for those rockets,” said Marty Frederick with Northrop Grumman Civil Space Programs.

Those white rockets on the side do a lot of lift.

“They provide 75% of the lift thrust off the pad, so it wouldn’t get to space without us, so it can’t get to space without Arizona,” Frederick said.

According to NASA’s website, the two rocket boosters each produce up to 3.6 million lbs of thrust during launch.

Local perspective:

While the Artemis II mission involves sending astronauts to the moon, the mission will not land on the moon. Astronauts on the Artemis IV mission are scheduled to step on the moon’s surface. Countless people, agencies, companies, and universities made this possible, including Dr. Laurie Leshin.

“When you’re launching humans on a new rocket for the first times it’s extra exciting,” said Dr. Laurie Leshin, ASU Professor for Space Futures.

We previously spoke to her at mission control when she was the director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“We are about exploring the frontiers of space for the benefit of humanity. Really about discovery,” Leshin said.

Now she returns to the place she helped create, the Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, as the professor for space futures, which includes finding roles for ASU in future Artemis missions.

“We built and flew a camera here still going around the moon that’s scouting the landing sites for future crews and then we’re gonna fly lots of instruments on different missions to get science and be a part of the science teams that bring Artemis to life,” Leshin said.

What’s next:

The next 25 hours are critical. That’s when the trans-lunar injection burn will take place, which thrusts them toward the lunar orbit.

At the same time, the days and hours ahead for those four astronauts will be crucial for future Artemis missions.

“I mean, you got four people riding in something that’s about the size of a back of an SUV. Not gonna be the most comfortable for them for 10 days together in that space but they’re gonna be testing all the systems and making sure that they can pilot it, that everything works as planned and as designed, and then we’re gonna learn from that and move forward to the next set of Artemis missions to get us back to the moon,” Leshin said.