TFF 2 - ARTEMIS II - by Adah Unobe

Borne from the dream to once more step on the moon, the Artemis missions have been carefully planned and every aspect must thus undergo rigorous testing. The overall program has therefore been divided into four stages.The Artemis I mission launched in 2022 with no humans on board. Its mission parameters were to stress test the various systems and components of the new rockets and capsule to ensure there would be no unexpected surprises and ensure safety when humans were launched.It was a success, with several new discoveries about the spacecraft, a very important example being the state of the heatshield of the return capsule upon its reentry into the atmosphere.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Screenshot_20260503-181629_1.jpg"/> More degradation than the simulation and math had predicted was discovered. Not enough to cause catastrophic results, but more than would be accounted for in the safety margins.Months of work followed this one discovery and two solutions were put forward. Either…<ul><li>Completely change the heat shield material, which would cost a lot of money in research and development as well as delay the subsequent missions while necessitating another test flight. Or</li><li>Change the reentry trajectory to a steeper angle and punch through the air resistance more directly.</li></ul>Due to budgetary and time constraints, option two was selected and Artemis II scheduled for launch with new plans and technologies based on the findings of the first Artemis mission.Day 1 – Launch DayT – minus 10…9…8……3…2…1…… Lift off.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/nhq202604010230.jpg"/>And so, the four intrepid explorers were launched with an incredible amount of energy, sent hurtling away from the surface of the earth, gradually accelerating to escape velocity until they breached the atmosphere and were held aloft in the vast sea of stars.The Earth fell away behind them as their vessel carried them into the vast beyond. The SLS separated at the optimum height and the Orion settled into orbit.We are going for all HumanityReiss Weisman, Mission Commander Artemis II Day 2The Orion capsule continued on its orbital path around the planet as its crew completed the shakedown procedures and looked for any faults. Unfortunately, one was found.Thankfully, while an important system, it wasn’t a catastrophic failure, nor impossible to fix.The toilet system had malfunctioned.It was a minor issue, fixed by the end of the day.Day 3The lunar trajectory was initiated, beginning what is called a Translunar Injection (Tli) burn, choosing a direction whereby the gravitational forces of the earth and moon would assist in propelling the spacecraft through its journey. This gravitational assist saves greatly on the fuel required for propulsion.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e000192large.jpg"/>With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth we choose itChristina Koch, Mission Specialist Artemis IIDay 4 - 5The mission progresses as planned and the crew takes several pictures of the Earth and moon. They are now officially closer to the moon than they are to Earth.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e009562large.jpg"/>This is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe.Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist Artemis IIDay 6The Orion space capsule finally reaches the moon and begins its sling shot maneuver around the celestial body. At a point in their journey round, all communication is cut off and the occupants of the Orion are left to gaze on a surface very few humans have ever had the opportunity to look upon with bare eyes… The Dark side of the moon.The communication black out lasted for about 40 minutes before they came out the other side. During this period, the crew of four aboard the Orion space capsule, were the furthest humans have ever been from our homeworld, breaking the record previously set by Apollo 13 in 1970. <img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e009288orig.jpg"/>You’re on a spaceship called Earth, that was created to give us a place to live in the cosmos… You are special, in all of this emptiness… you have this oasis where we get to exist together, we must get through it all together.Victor Glover, Pilot Artemis II <img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/ART002-E-16108.jpeg"/>Day 7 – 9 The Orion continued on its way back to the planet. The inhabitants received several video calls from world dignitaries. <img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Screenshot_20260503-172337_1.jpg"/>Day 10 – SplashdownThe most dangerous part of the mission, splashdown had to be accomplished with an immense amount of planning and attention to detail.First the newly calculated return angle had to be set and followed strictly, using a horizontal target line, coming in fast and hot.The Artemis I had used a much shallower return angle, but the immense amount of shear forces involved had proven to ablate the Heatshield past the required safety margin. The module where the astronauts had lived and worked for the entirety of the mission, called Integrity, then separates from its service module. The Integrity would be what completed the final part of the journey.At this point, they become totally subject to the forces of gravity and have to hope their calculations and piloting had been correct.Punching through the atmosphere, a blinding corona of superheated plasma shrouded the Integrity, blocking visual and radio data from the capsule. At a point, they were moving over 40,000 Km/h, 32 times the speed of sound.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Screenshot_20260503-175843_1.jpg"/>A tense few minutes pass as everyone on the ground waits with tense breath for it to slow down enough to confirm it hadn’t been destroyed.Finally, visual confirmation showed the parachutes had been successfully deployed and the Integrity gracefully splashed down off the coast of San Diego.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/jsc2026e022246.jpg"/>The crew were confirmed to all be safe and uninjured, and were gratefully carried aboard the waiting Navy ship to standing ovations.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Screenshot_20260503-223621_1.jpg"/>They had done it…… We had done it.Now plans have been made and the next stage of the journey approaches, where we as a species will once more do something we have failed to accomplish for the past five decades.… Onwards Artemis III <img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e000180.jpg"/><img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/Screenshot_20260503-172237_1.jpg"/><img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e009294large.jpg"/><img src="/media/inline_insight_image/art002e016198large.jpg"/>

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