<p class="bodytext">The return of four NASA astronauts who flew the Artemis-II mission marks the dawn of a new era in human exploration of the Moon, not driven by <br />Cold War rivalries but by a scientific challenge to put boots on the cold and rocky satellite. The Artemis programme is the first step for humanity to peer into deep space from a lunar base. The mission has advanced the readiness for a sustained human presence beyond Earth. The next two Artemis missions, planned up to 2028, will involve testing more technologies and finally the lunar landing of a human crew. Subsequently, NASA plans one Artemis mission each year with the aim of setting up a permanent lunar base.</p>.Artemis and the great Moon race.<p class="bodytext">The Artemis-II mission was about rigorously testing the Orion spacecraft and its life-support, communication, and control systems in real conditions. The use of a free-return trajectory, the far-side lunar flyby, the slingshot orbit powered by gravity, and the carefully executed scientific observations during the communication blackout demonstrate the precision of modern space engineering and the resilience of human exploration. The riskiest part was re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, due to concerns about Orion’s heat shield from the experience of the 2022 uncrewed mission. As the Integrity crew capsule for the Artemis-II mission was already built by the time NASA learned about the problems associated with the heat shield material, the space agency modified the re-entry path to minimise the risks to the astronauts. The biggest joy was the moment when Commander Reid Wiseman’s voice was heard at the mission control after a nerve-wracking six-minute blackout, when the capsule took a fiery plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere, exposing it to a temperature of 2,760 degrees Celsius. For future missions, NASA will improve the designs of the heat shield, and will test at least one — or both — commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin before it prepares for a descent in the Artemis-III mission, scheduled for 2028.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India is a signatory to the Artemis Accord that guides civil exploration of outer space, but is not part of NASA’s Artemis programme. New Delhi has its own plans: Gaganyaan, Bharatiya Antriksh station, and having an Indian on the Moon by 2040. All of these involve challenging science and critical engineering. Failures are natural in such a complex technological journey. It would be better if the Indian Space Research Organisation were transparent about its failures, rather than obfuscating them. Becoming open about failures can not only prepare people about the risks, but also allow a wider group of scientists to look for out-of-the-box solutions to complex problems.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The return of four NASA astronauts who flew the Artemis-II mission marks the dawn of a new era in human exploration of the Moon, not driven by <br />Cold War rivalries but by a scientific challenge to put boots on the cold and rocky satellite. The Artemis programme is the first step for humanity to peer into deep space from a lunar base. The mission has advanced the readiness for a sustained human presence beyond Earth. The next two Artemis missions, planned up to 2028, will involve testing more technologies and finally the lunar landing of a human crew. Subsequently, NASA plans one Artemis mission each year with the aim of setting up a permanent lunar base.</p>.Artemis and the great Moon race.<p class="bodytext">The Artemis-II mission was about rigorously testing the Orion spacecraft and its life-support, communication, and control systems in real conditions. The use of a free-return trajectory, the far-side lunar flyby, the slingshot orbit powered by gravity, and the carefully executed scientific observations during the communication blackout demonstrate the precision of modern space engineering and the resilience of human exploration. The riskiest part was re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, due to concerns about Orion’s heat shield from the experience of the 2022 uncrewed mission. As the Integrity crew capsule for the Artemis-II mission was already built by the time NASA learned about the problems associated with the heat shield material, the space agency modified the re-entry path to minimise the risks to the astronauts. The biggest joy was the moment when Commander Reid Wiseman’s voice was heard at the mission control after a nerve-wracking six-minute blackout, when the capsule took a fiery plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere, exposing it to a temperature of 2,760 degrees Celsius. For future missions, NASA will improve the designs of the heat shield, and will test at least one — or both — commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin before it prepares for a descent in the Artemis-III mission, scheduled for 2028.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India is a signatory to the Artemis Accord that guides civil exploration of outer space, but is not part of NASA’s Artemis programme. New Delhi has its own plans: Gaganyaan, Bharatiya Antriksh station, and having an Indian on the Moon by 2040. All of these involve challenging science and critical engineering. Failures are natural in such a complex technological journey. It would be better if the Indian Space Research Organisation were transparent about its failures, rather than obfuscating them. Becoming open about failures can not only prepare people about the risks, but also allow a wider group of scientists to look for out-of-the-box solutions to complex problems.</p>
