The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to install new equipment on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. This decision was made after analyzing the results of the Artemis I mission.

What is known

SLS is the most powerful rocket in the world. At the end of last year, she launched Orion into space, the largest spacecraft in history. It flew around the moon and returned to Earth, landing within a radius of 4 km from the target. During the return insulation was damagedbut NASA declared the mission a success.

The space agency believes that the second lunar mission, Artemis II, will proceed as scheduled, ie. in November 2024. If it succeeds, then in 2025 American astronauts will land on the moon for the first time since 1972. But first, NASA wants to install new space hardware on both Orion and SLS.

During the launch, the mobile missile launcher was damaged. Specialists have already repaired one of the two damaged elevators and are preparing to strengthen the second. You also need to solve the issue of nitrogen supply, because. during the November launch, the system was broken. This led to corrosion of the pneumatic lines, since it was not possible to supply water in time and wash off the residues that cause corrosion.

Scientists also want to improve the thermal insulation layer. Although NASA stated that the level of destruction of thermal insulation was within acceptable limits. The destruction of the shell would not harm the astronauts if they were aboard the Orion spacecraft.

Source: The Verge