On Jan. 9, NASA announced it would be shifting the launch of Artemis II to September 2025. Artemis III — the first mission to land humans on the surface of the moon since 1972 — was moved to September 2026.
What do these delays mean for Canada’s plans to explore the moon?
Global News reports on NASA’s announcement to delay Artemis II and III missions.
The Artemis program
It has been 52 years since humans last walked on the surface of the moon. Since then, humanity has not ventured beyond low Earth orbit, about the distance from Halifax to Fredericton, or Toronto to Ottawa.
In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo — a fitting name for the program that will take humans back to the moon. Unlike Apollo, the Artemis program also has the explicit goals of establishing the first long-term presence on the moon — similar to Antarctica research outposts — and sending the first astronauts to Mars.
The Artemis missions are ambitious to say the least, and represent the next major collaborative international effort, building on the success of the International Space Station.
A core principle of the Artemis Accords is to enhance peaceful relationships between nations, which is needed now, perhaps more than ever since the Cold War.
Failure is not an option
After the success of the Artemis I mission in late 2022, most people probably thought there would be a quick succession of missions and we would be back on the lunar surface in no time. While the originally planned two years between Artemis I and II may sound a long time, it is in terms of space exploration, where the development of missions is often measured in decades.
The major reason for this is that space is incredibly unforgiving. From withstanding the huge G-forces and vibrations as the rocket accelerates to over 40,000 kilometres an hour during launch — the velocity needed to escape Earth’s gravity — to the extremes of temperature, designing technologies for space is hard and costly.
Every piece of the Artemis infrastructure must be tested and tested again to make sure it can withstand the rigours of space. The environment of the moon is a particularly challenging thermal environment, with a staggering 300 C temperature difference between the lunar day and night.
Some of this testing can be done in a laboratory; however, once a certain scale is reached, this becomes impossible. Take SpaceX’s Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown and a key part of the architecture for Artemis.
On Nov. 18, its second launch, the Starship exploded after reaching its goal of entering space. SpaceX engineers gathered a wealth of data to improve the design of Starship. However, this test made it clear that this rocket, which will be used to land the Artemis III crew on the surface of the moon, simply wasn’t going to be ready for a 2025 launch.
The second test flight of Starship from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 18, 2023.
The astronauts’ long wait
The stakes could not be higher for the Artemis II mission as onboard, for the first time, will be four astronauts, including Canadian Jeremy Hansen.
While not scheduled to land on the surface of the moon, Artemis II is still an incredibly challenging mission that carries with it an element of risk that comes with any “first.” Indeed, this will be the first time humans will fly in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the first mission to take humans beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
If this mission is successful, these four astronauts will have boldly gone farther from our home planet than any other humans, ever. So it makes sense to take time, especially considering some of the obstacles still facing Artemis II.
On the plus side, the Artemis II crew will have more time for training. Having been involved in providing geology training to two of the Artemis II crew last September — Hansen and Christina Koch — having an additional few months for training will definitely not go to waste.
This delay will also give Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons time to come up to speed with training as part of the back-up crew for Artemis 2 — a job she was only assigned in November.
Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Jenni Gibbons with Gordon Osinski at the Kamestastin Lake impact structure, Labrador. (Canadian Space Agency)
Robots to the moon
On the same day that NASA announced the delays to the Artemis program, the U.S. company Astrobotic announced that its Peregrine lunar lander suffered a “critical loss of propellent” not long after launch. This means there is no chance of it being able to land successfully on the moon.
The lander has been gathering valuable data while its fuel supplies lasted, so all is not lost. This is also the first launch as part of NASA’s new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
Despite the failures and setbacks in the Artemis and CLPS programs, 2024 promises to be the most exciting year for lunar exploration in decades. Astrobotic is planning two more launches, including NASA’s ambitious Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).
Two other U.S. companies, Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace, are also scheduled to launch their first lunar missions. And even sooner, the Japanese space agency JAXA has scheduled the landing of its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on Jan. 19 — if successful, this would make Japan only the fifth country to do so.
I will be watching these upcoming CLPS missions closely, as one of these companies will take the Canadian Lunar Rover to the moon no earlier than 2026. Even before this mission, thanks to the Canadian Space Agency’s Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program, Canadian companies such as Mission Control Space Services and Canadensys are working on software and hardware to contribute to various CLPS missions.
Artist’s rendition of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander on the surface of the moon. (Astrobiotic)
Canadarm3 and the Lunar Gateway
Almost lost in the details of NASA’s announcement about Artemis II and III was the statement that Artemis IV remains on track to launch in September 2028. In addition to landing two astronauts on the lunar surface, a major objective for Artemis IV will be the continued assembly of the Lunar Gateway.
The Gateway is a small space station that will act as an outpost orbiting the moon, providing support for lunar surface missions and, in the longer term, as a staging point for further deep space exploration. The Gateway will be the home for Canada’s biggest financial contribution to Artemis: Canadarm3.
Currently being built by Canadian company MDA Space with the support of dozens of Canadian partners and suppliers, Canadarm3 represents the next generation of space robotics. In contrast to the ISS, astronauts will not always be present on the Gateway, so Canadarm3 is being built with advanced AI-enabled sensors to enable autonomous operations.
Just like what Canadarm did for the Space Shuttle Program and Canadarm2 did for the International Space Station, Canadarm3 will be an iconic reminder of Canada’s international status as a spacefaring nation.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
The European Space Agency is fast-tracking a new mission called Ramses, which will fly to near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis and join the space rock in 2029 when it comes very close to our planet — closer even than the region where geosynchronous satellites sit.
Ramses is short for Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety and, as its name suggests, is the next phase in humanity’s efforts to learn more about near-Earth asteroids (NEOs) and how we might deflect them should one ever be discovered on a collision course with planet Earth.
In order to launch in time to rendezvous with Apophis in February 2029, scientists at the European Space Agency have been given permission to start planning Ramses even before the multinational space agency officially adopts the mission. The sanctioning and appropriation of funding for the Ramses mission will hopefully take place at ESA’s Ministerial Council meeting (involving representatives from each of ESA’s member states) in November of 2025. To arrive at Apophis in February 2029, launch would have to take place in April 2028, the agency says.
This is a big deal because large asteroids don’t come this close to Earth very often. It is thus scientifically precious that, on April 13, 2029, Apophis will pass within 19,794 miles (31,860 kilometers) of Earth. For comparison, geosynchronous orbit is 22,236 miles (35,786 km) above Earth’s surface. Such close fly-bys by asteroids hundreds of meters across (Apophis is about 1,230 feet, or 375 meters, across) only occur on average once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. Miss this one, and we’ve got a long time to wait for the next.
When Apophis was discovered in 2004, it was for a short time the most dangerous asteroid known, being classified as having the potential to impact with Earth possibly in 2029, 2036, or 2068. Should an asteroid of its size strike Earth, it could gouge out a crater several kilometers across and devastate a country with shock waves, flash heating and earth tremors. If it crashed down in the ocean, it could send a towering tsunami to devastate coastlines in multiple countries.
Over time, as our knowledge of Apophis’ orbit became more refined, however, the risk of impact greatly went down. Radar observations of the asteroid in March of 2021 reduced the uncertainty in Apophis’ orbit from hundreds of kilometers to just a few kilometers, finally removing any lingering worries about an impact — at least for the next 100 years. (Beyond 100 years, asteroid orbits can become too unpredictable to plot with any accuracy, but there’s currently no suggestion that an impact will occur after 100 years.) So, Earth is expected to be perfectly safe in 2029 when Apophis comes through. Still, scientists want to see how Apophis responds by coming so close to Earth and entering our planet’s gravitational field.
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“There is still so much we have yet to learn about asteroids but, until now, we have had to travel deep into the solar system to study them and perform experiments ourselves to interact with their surface,” said Patrick Michel, who is the Director of Research at CNRS at Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, in a statement. “Nature is bringing one to us and conducting the experiment itself. All we need to do is watch as Apophis is stretched and squeezed by strong tidal forces that may trigger landslides and other disturbances and reveal new material from beneath the surface.”
The Goldstone radar’s imagery of asteroid 99942 Apophis as it made its closest approach to Earth, in March 2021. (Image credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/NSF/AUI/GBO)
By arriving at Apophis before the asteroid’s close encounter with Earth, and sticking with it throughout the flyby and beyond, Ramses will be in prime position to conduct before-and-after surveys to see how Apophis reacts to Earth. By looking for disturbances Earth’s gravitational tidal forces trigger on the asteroid’s surface, Ramses will be able to learn about Apophis’ internal structure, density, porosity and composition, all of which are characteristics that we would need to first understand before considering how best to deflect a similar asteroid were one ever found to be on a collision course with our world.
Besides assisting in protecting Earth, learning about Apophis will give scientists further insights into how similar asteroids formed in the early solar system, and, in the process, how planets (including Earth) formed out of the same material.
One way we already know Earth will affect Apophis is by changing its orbit. Currently, Apophis is categorized as an Aten-type asteroid, which is what we call the class of near-Earth objects that have a shorter orbit around the sun than Earth does. Apophis currently gets as far as 0.92 astronomical units (137.6 million km, or 85.5 million miles) from the sun. However, our planet will give Apophis a gravitational nudge that will enlarge its orbit to 1.1 astronomical units (164.6 million km, or 102 million miles), such that its orbital period becomes longer than Earth’s.
It will then be classed as an Apollo-type asteroid.
Ramses won’t be alone in tracking Apophis. NASA has repurposed their OSIRIS-REx mission, which returned a sample from another near-Earth asteroid, 101955 Bennu, in 2023. However, the spacecraft, renamed OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer), won’t arrive at the asteroid until April 23, 2029, ten days after the close encounter with Earth. OSIRIS-APEX will initially perform a flyby of Apophis at a distance of about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the object, then return in June that year to settle into orbit around Apophis for an 18-month mission.
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Furthermore, the European Space Agency still plans on launching its Hera spacecraft in October 2024 to follow-up on the DART mission to the double asteroid Didymos and Dimorphos. DART impacted the latter in a test of kinetic impactor capabilities for potentially changing a hazardous asteroid’s orbit around our planet. Hera will survey the binary asteroid system and observe the crater made by DART’s sacrifice to gain a better understanding of Dimorphos’ structure and composition post-impact, so that we can place the results in context.
The more near-Earth asteroids like Dimorphos and Apophis that we study, the greater that context becomes. Perhaps, one day, the understanding that we have gained from these missions will indeed save our planet.
