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This year, NASA plans to launch the first phase of its new Artemis program, a long-term project to establish a permanent presence on and around the Moon before sending astronauts on to Mars.
The accomplishments of Apollo 11, the first Moon landing, took a nation’s efforts, and to reach what seems like today’s impossible – to go back to the Moon and stay – the agency is working with one of its most experienced commercial partners who helped reach and land on the moon over 50 years ago: Northrop Grumman. Together, Northrop Grumman, NASA, and other industry contributors will send the first woman and first person of color to the lunar surface.
Launching a New Era of Space Exploration
The Artemis program will incorporate many Northrop Grumman-built technologies, including the first habitation module for astronauts on their way to the moon, the twin solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), and two rocket motors supporting the Orion spacecraft’s Launch Abort System. The abort motor produces approximately 400,000 pounds of thrust in under two minutes to steer the astronaut’s capsule safely from the rocket in case of an emergency during launch, and the attitude control motor exerts up to 7,000 pounds of steering force with its eight valves to steer the crew module away from hazards and reorient for parachute deployment.
SLS will be used for the first time when NASA kickstarts its Artemis program with the launch of Artemis I, the first integrated test of deep-space exploration. For decades, Northrop Grumman has been a key supplier of NASA’s rocket propulsion for human space exploration, first contributing to the Apollo program and, more recently, supplying boosters for the 30-year Space Shuttle Program. But this mission is different, and NASA’s ask is greater than ever before.
“Using the flight-proven design of shuttle, the SLS boosters have an additional segment that contributes 25 percent more thrust, which is essential to helping get the massive SLS vehicle, the Orion spacecraft and its payloads into space,” said Doug Hurley, senior director of business development, Northrop Grumman, and former NASA astronaut who served on two Space Shuttle Program missions and the first crewed test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. “We are also looking to enhance that power for later Artemis missions.”
The twin solid rocket boosters will burn 3.6 million pounds each to produce over 75% of the SLS rocket’s thrust to boost it off the pad and out of Earth’s atmosphere to help send the Orion spacecraft 280,000 miles from the Earth and thousands of miles beyond the Moon during its four-to-six-week Artemis I mission.
Although uncrewed, the mission will test the SLS rocket’s ability to fuel future missions into deep space that will carry astronauts. Northrop Grumman has already completed the booster segments for both Artemis II and III and currently has Artemis IV boosters in work at its Promontory, Utah, facility.
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Creating a New Launchpad to Explore the Moon
NASA’s goal is to learn more about the Moon’s environment and deep space and how humans can live outside the low-Earth orbit environment. With the help of industry and international partners, the agency is developing an outpost to further help us explore: the Gateway.
The key to the Artemis program and the future of space exploration will be a new space station that will orbit the Moon and act as an outpost for sending astronauts to the lunar surface. This human exploration feat will help scientists understand the effects of the Moon’s environment on humans and will even enable missions to Mars.
“Gateway will serve as a way station for astronaut crews on their way to the lunar surface, but it will also provide valuable data about living in deep space,” says Rick Mastracchio, a former NASA astronaut who spent 228 days living and working on the International Space Station and now works as director of Business Development at Northrop Grumman. “Systems that support life in space are complex, and the Gateway will be a vital laboratory to demonstrate systems for long term deep space habitation.”
Gateway will need to be self-supporting while also supporting human life and science. NASA has contracted Northrop Grumman to build the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the initial pressurized living quarters where astronauts will work and sleep during expeditions aboard the orbiting Gateway. Northrop Grumman also will integrate HALO with the Power and Propulsion Element that will contribute power capabilities to the Gateway.
“We are building on our experience with our Cygnus spacecraft, which sends supplies and science equipment to the ISS twice a year, to help make the new space station as efficient and safe as possible,” Mastracchio said. “We have constructed a virtual environment using digital tools and feedback from past crews to help us incorporate important design features into HALO’s living and working spaces.”
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Mobility to Explore the Moon
To prepare for when Artemis missions reach the lunar surface, NASA is looking at ways to enable better and more comprehensive research and help astronauts cover more ground, literally. Creating a long-term human presence in deep space requires vehicles that are capable of safely traversing the harsh environments of planets and their moons. The Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), will be an electric unpressurized, open vehicle that will allow astronauts greater access to the lunar South Pole, believed to have water in the form of ice, and the home of the Artemis Base Camp.
Northrop Grumman is teaming with Intuitive Machines, AVL, Lunar Outpost and Michelin to design a versatile LTV for research by astronauts and robots. The company is designing its rover for power and weight efficiency, and the ability to maneuver crewed and uncrewed from Earth. Reliability is also a top factor since AAA has not yet opened a club on the Moon.
“We are drawing on our spacecraft manufacturing and integration proficiency and research we are doing on how hardware can survive in the harsh lunar environment, with the expertise of our multidisciplinary partners to produce the most innovative LTV concept,” said Mastracchio.
NASA is expected to announce awards for LTV concepts in 2024.
“We continue to advance our flight-proven systems and find new innovative solutions for our reliable systems to support the expansive goals of Artemis,” said Mastracchio. “And we are eager to contribute to the next generation of space exploration – from the launch pad to the lunar surface and beyond.”
This story was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Northrop Grumman.
