Space: Humans will live on the Moon by 2030, says NASA

rEve Before setting foot on the Moon, NASA must verify that the Orion spacecraft is safe for astronauts

The Orion capsule of the Artemis mission. — Nasa/UPI//SIPA

On Wednesday, November 16, the Artemis rocket blasted off to the Moon, carrying the Orion spacecraft with it. This is the first step before a human can set foot on Earth’s natural satellite. Moreover, NASA estimates that astronauts will be able to live on the Moon. the horizon of 2030, as explained by Howard Hu, director of the Orion program. Interviewed by the BBC, the scientist pointed out that these habitats on the satellite were going to become essential to shelter the scientists who will carry out missions.

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À On the occasion of the launch of Orion, Howard Hu hailed a “historic day for space exploration”. The scientist considers that this successful take-off is “the first step towards space exploration at high speed. long term, not just for the United States, but for the whole world.” For this first mission, the Orion capsule, which is attached to the end of the launcher, will pass behind the Moon, at some 64,000 km.

A dummy at edge of Orion

À its board, no human but a dummy that will record the impacts of this flight on the body of future astronauts who will tread the lunar soil. NASA must ensure that the space vehicle is safe. “We are going back to the moon, we are working on a sustainable program and it’s the vehicle that will bring the people who land back to Earth. new to the Moon,” Howard Hu.

Next step: the Artemis 2 mission which will take astronauts around the Moon but still without landing. Will follow Artemis 3, an important step, because it’ that time that humans will set foot on the Moon, more than fifty years after the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Next stop: Mars

Human presence on the Moon is an important step for another great space project: the conquest of Mars. “We are going back to the Moon […] to learn how to live on the Moon, in order to prepare ourselves for the future. send humans to Mars” Bill Nelson, the director of NASA, after the departure of Artemis.