Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and NASA plan to create lunar gravity inside New Shepard rocket

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin turns his New Shepard rocket into a lunar simulator for NASA to test lunar gravity innovations.

The team plans to update the spacecraft to use the capsule as a large centrifuge, a device that uses rotational force to separate specific components from liquids, to create artificial gravity for the payloads inside. .

The capsule’s reaction control thrusters would generate a rotation of 11 rotations per minute during the free-fall phase of flight, which NASA said would produce a centripetal force equivalent to the moon’s gravity.

Blue Origin’s new lunar gravity test capabilities are expected to be available at the end of 2022 and will be a key player in experimenting with the payloads that are expected to accompany the Artemis mission that sends the first woman and the next man to the moon at the mid-2020s.

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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin turns his New Shepard rocket into a lunar simulator for NASA to test lunar gravity innovations. The team plans to update the spacecraft to use the capsule as a large centrifuge

While sending humans into outer space is a challenge, the real hurdle will be when the heroes of the Space Shroud step on the lunar surface – gravity is one-sixth that of Earth.

Christopher Baker, program director for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, said in a statement, “One of the constant challenges of living and working in space is gravity reduction.

“Many systems designed for use on Earth just don’t work the same way elsewhere.”

Astronauts train in artificial gravity here on Earth, which takes place primarily when submerged in water.

The capsule’s reaction control thrusters would generate a rotation of 11 rotations per minute during the free-fall phase of flight, which NASA said would produce a centripetal force equivalent to the moon’s gravity.

Blue Origin’s new lunar gravity testing capabilities are expected to be available at the end of 2022 and will be a key player in experimenting with the payloads that are expected to accompany the Artemis mission that sends the first woman and the next man to the moon at mid 2020s.

But Blue Origin and NASA’s partnership could simulate the same type of gravity crew experienced when exploring the moon.

Once upgraded, New Shepard will use its Reaction Control System (RCS) to activate a capsule rotation.

The RCS uses rocket thrusters for altitude and direction control, and is able to provide small amounts of thrust to move the craft in a desired direction or combination of directions.

The first flight of this capacity from Blue Origin will aim for 11 rotations per minute to provide more than two minutes of continuous lunar gravity, exposing the technologies to this difficult but difficult condition to test.

NASA announced on Wednesday that it has taken a key step in assembly with the Space Launch System (SLS) “ megarocket ” that brings it closer to the Artemis crew’s launch to the moon.

The US space agency said the ten segments that make up the two booster rockets were stacked vertically for several weeks at the Kennedy Space Center.

Once launched, the $ 18.6 billion SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever made and capable of transporting cargo and astronauts to the moon in a single trip.

NASA announced on Wednesday that it has taken a key step in assembly with the Space Launch System (SLS) ‘megarocket’ (pictured). Center.

Getting the rocket off the ground for Artemis I in 2021 is key to achieving the 2024 goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the moon with Artemis III.

Bruce Tilleer, SLS Booster Manager at Marshall Space Flight Center, said: “ Seeing the solid rocket thrusters from the space launch system stacked completely on the mobile launcher for the first time makes me proud of the whole team. ”

“ This team has created the tallest and most powerful boosters ever built for flight, boosters that will help launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. ”

This launch in 2023 will be reminiscent of Apollo 10 and is intended to serve as a crewed dress rehearsal for the 2024 mission.

NASA to land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis mission

Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and the Moon goddess in Greek mythology.

NASA chose her to personify her path to the Moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2024 – including the first woman and the next man.

Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, in Florida.

Artemis 1 will be an unmanned flight that will provide a basis for human exploration of deep space and demonstrate our commitment and ability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

During this flight, the spacecraft will launch onto the world’s most powerful rocket and fly farther than any human-built spacecraft has ever flown.

It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon in a mission of approximately three weeks.

Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars. This graphic explains the different stages of the mission

Orion will stay in space longer than any astronaut ship has without docking at a space station and will return home faster and hotter than ever.

With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps in human exploration into deep space where astronauts will build and begin testing the near-moon systems needed for lunar surface missions and exploration to other destinations further from Earth, including Mars.

He’ll take the crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans on board.

The SLS rocket will go from an initial configuration capable of sending more than 26 metric tons to the moon, to a final configuration capable of sending at least 45 metric tons.

Together, Orion, SLS and Kennedy’s ground systems will be able to meet the most difficult needs of aircrew and deep space cargo missions.

Ultimately, NASA seeks to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon by 2028 following the Artemis mission.

The space agency hopes this colony will uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advances and lay the groundwork for private companies to build a lunar economy.