USGovernment'sAeronautics and Space Administration agency all-set tolaunchArtemisIImission from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in early April.
The mission was also launched numberoftimes,but it failed due to hydrogen leaks and a stubbornheliumproblem that sent the rocket back into its hangar.
The 10-day mission will carry Nasa astronautsReid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, ona free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.
The crew of the mission will board the spacecraft that is to swing around the Moon using its gravity and come back to Earth without landing onthe lunarsurface.
Thisisthe first time that humans will travel aboard the Space launch System (SLS) rocket andOrionspacecraft andwill also be the farthest humans have travelled from Earth in the past 50 years.But due to the repeated delays and technical faults the question arisesregardingwhat significantrisksthe Artemis II mission will face as the edges of spacecraft closer to the launchpad.
The experts have raised three major concernsregardingthe mission
Can Artemis II re-enter Earth safely?
When the astronauts return from the Moon, their spacecraft slams back into Earth's atmosphereat around 40,000 km per hour which is enough speed to heat up the outer surface of the spacecraft up to the temperatures hotterthan the surface of the sun.
The only thing standing between the crew and that inferno is what is called a heat shield which is a thick protective layer at the base of the capsuledesigned to absorb and shed that heat.
While uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022, engineers discovered the Orion capsule's heat shield sufferedunexpected damageduring its high-speed return from the Moon.They had expected the heat, and the surface to get charred by it,but the material as a whole was supposed to stay intact and provide insulation.Itdidn't.
Instead, the material from the shield broke off unevenly, causing heat to build up inside the outer layer, trappinggases,and raising the internal pressure.Which then caused cracking and uneven shedding as the spacecraft dipped in and out of the atmosphere on its return to Earth.
In Artemis 2,NASAis not replacing the heat shield. The agencyis changing the re-entrypathtominimisethe intensity of heating. Re-entering the Earthwithout a redesigned heat shield is a risk NASA has decided to take willingly.
Can Artemis II fly close to theSun?
The next major question that arisesregardingthe mission iswhetherit can fly close tothe sunor not. The Earthis protected from the Sun's mostharmful radiation with the help of magneticfields, which is an invisible shield that deflects charged particles streaming from the Sun.
The protection vanishes once the astronauts leave Earth's orbit. Without the field of protection, the astronauts could be exposed to the radiation emanating from theSun,and the radiation can create issues for the spacecraft in the same way it happens during Artemis I.
NASA recorded 24instances of power distribution anomalies in Orion's electrical power system during ArtemisI anddeterminedthat radiation was the root cause.
NASA is working on software changes and developingoperational workarounds for Artemis II, but without a permanent hardware fix. There ishigh riskthat further anomalies could lead to a loss of redundancy, inadequate power, and potential loss of vehicle propulsion.
In easy terms, a bad solar event could knock out the very systems that are to bring the crew back to Earth after their long journey.
Life support during mission
Inside the Orion capsule, a life support system continuouslymonitorsand maintains oxygen, temperature, and cabin pressure.Basically,itmonitorseverything that keeps the crew alive.
Thepreviousmission ofArtemis I carried noastronauts,but Artemis II willconsist ofa fully operationalenvironmental control and life-support system letting astronautsliveand work aboard Orion throughout the mission.
The engineers and scientists are still working on issues related to life supportsystemsas well as electrical system batteries during abort operations.
NASA claims that sufficientprogress has been made to proceed.However, the system will only truly be proven once the mission iscompleted