NASA Artemis mission to moon

Question: By which year NASA has decided to put woman astronaut on the Moon through its Artemis project?
(a) 2025
(b) 2024
(c) 2026
(d) 2022
Answer: (b)
Related facts:

  • US space agency NASA declared on 15th May, 2019 to put astronauts back on the moon in 2024 which includes the first woman astronaut.
  • The whole project was given the name Artemis.
  • NASA has a whole Artemis program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century.
  • The whole project has eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024.
  • In one of the first steps of the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration plans, NASA announced on 23rd May, 2019 of the selection of Maxar Technologies, formerly SSL, in Westminster, Colorado, to develop and demonstrate power, propulsion and communications capabilities for NASA’s lunar Gateway.
  • The power and propulsion element is a high-power, 50-kilowatt solar electric propulsion spacecraft – three times more powerful than current capabilities.

Artemis:

  • ARTEMIS stands for ‘Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun.’
  • Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. It personifies our path to the Moon as the name of NASA’s program to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024.
  • This mission is going to take place after Apollo mission; the six-flight moonshot program that put 12 men on the Earth’s satellite five decades ago.
  • Eugene Cernan in 1972 was the last astronaut to walk on the moon’s surface.
  • Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020.
  • Artemis 2 would be crewed and orbit the moon in 2022.
  • Artemis 3 would bring astronauts to the orbiting mini-station in 2024 prior to a lunar surface and return to Gateway.

Funding for the project:

  • The project had an initial 21 billion USD budget with repeated request from NASA to accelerate the return to the lunar surface.
  • The additional funds awaiting Congress approval would be taken from education grants, rather than the International Space Station or other departments within the space agency.

Links:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-artemis-contract-for-lunar-gateway-power-propulsion
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/nasa-artemis-2024-moon-mission-first-woman-lunar-surface-things-to-know-1533598-2019-05-24
https://www.dw.com/en/nasas-artemis-program-aims-to-put-first-woman-on-moon/a-48855270
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-15/nasa-artemis-project-aims-to-land-first-woman-on-moon/11113986