Ahead of Artemis I’s launch, the US space agency has revealed a list of items it is sending aboard the SLS rocket and accompanying the Orion spacecraft on its journey to Earth’s only natural satellite. They include 245 silver Snoopy pins, a Shaun the Sheep mascot, a Dead Sea pebble and 567 American flags. The rocket, which is the most powerful ever built, is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 29. NASA said the official flight kit was a cultural and educational “time capsule.” “Many of the items included in the flight kit are symbols of cultural significance or NASA’s collaborative efforts with STEM-focused organizations,” the US space agency said. This includes a set of space science badges for girl scouts. A small piece of the moon from the Apollo 11 mission will also join the ride, along with a patch and bolt from Neil Armstrong’s iconic mission, to help connect the legacy of Apollo with the Artemis program. Shaun the Sheep’s inclusion was arranged by the European Space Agency (ESA), which built the power supply unit for the mission. Weird: Ahead of Artemis I’s launch, the US space agency has revealed a list of objects it’s sending aboard the SLS rocket on its journey to Earth’s only natural satellite. They include a Shaun the Sheep mascot (pictured) and 567 American flags Among the items will be 245 silver Snoopy pins (pictured), while a small piece of the moon from the Apollo 11 mission will also join the ride Four LEGO minifigures (pictured) are also included in the official flight kit for the mission Towering: The massive Space Launch System (pictured) is scheduled to blast off into space on August 29 as part of a six-week mission that will see it carry an unmanned Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit and back
ARTEMIS 1 MISSION: SOME OF THE ITEMS ON THE PACKING LIST
245 x Snoopy Silver Pins 1 x Snoopy Zero G Indicator 500 x Artemis ‘Medalion’ Gold Stamp Stickers for Certificates 2,775 x Artemis I mission patches 1 x Lunar Sample Button (Apollo 11) 567 x American flags 1 x Artemis Program Seal 90 x Girl Scouts Space Science badges 1 x Written quote from Dr. Maria Zuber 1 x World Space Week lapel pin 1 x Sycamore Tree seeds 1 x USB drive (pictures, drawings, poems of the area by citizens and students) 1 x Dead Sea Pebble 1 x Wrapped Nib for Peanuts Pens & Comics 1x National Air and Space Museum – Apollo 8 Commemorative Medal
“This is an exciting time for Shaun and for us at ESA,” said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA. “We are very pleased that he has been chosen for the mission and understand that while that may be one small step for a man, it is one giant leap for the lambs.” ESA worked with Aardman, the animation studio behind the stop-motion sheep, to arrange the trip. “Aardman is thrilled to be joining ESA to make history by launching the first ‘sheep’ into space,” said Lucy Wendover, marketing director at Aardman. “As one of the first astronauts to fly on an Artemis mission, Shaun is pioneering the exploration of the Moon, a great honor for our furry adventurer! “2022 marks the 15th anniversary of Shaun’s first TV series, so what better way to celebrate than by traveling further than any sheep has gone before,” he added. Shaun isn’t the only pop culture figure to be launched on the Artemis 1 flight. A Snoopy doll based on the comic strip beagle flies as the mission’s zero-gravity marker, and four LEGO minifigures are also included. LEGO is a long-time provider of projects and minifigures based on real NASA missions, including multiple generations of space shuttles and Mars rovers for kids. They star in the educationally focused “Build to Launch: A STEAM Exploration Series). During Artemis I, the Orion spacecraft – which was built primarily by Lockheed Martin – will stay in space “longer than any astronaut ship without tethering to a space station, and will return home faster and hotter than ever before NASA said. The mission is designed to demonstrate that the SLS rocket and Orion capsule are ready to carry astronauts. If Artemis I is successful, NASA will then send Artemis II on a trip around the moon as early as 2024, this time with a human crew. The Artemis II mission plans to send four astronauts on a lunar flight for a maximum of 21 days. A Snoopy doll based on the cartoon beagle flies as the mission’s zero-gravity marker If Artemis I is successful, NASA will send Artemis II on a trip around the Moon as early as 2024, this time with a human crew. ESA teamed up with Aardman, the animation studio behind the stop-motion sheep, to arrange the trip The bolt from one of Apollo 11’s F-1 engines, included in the official Artemis I flight kit Workers are pictured examining the Artemis I mission patches for the official flight kit Head to head: Standing taller than the Statue of Liberty and costing $23bn (£19bn) to build, NASA’s brand new Large Moon rocket (pictured left) is just weeks away from its maiden launch. See how the SLS compares to the iconic Saturn V rocket (right), which launched Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon in July 1969 Both missions are test flights to demonstrate the technology and capabilities of the Orion, SLS and Artemis missions before NASA returns human boots to the moon in about three years. This will include the first woman and the first person of color to walk on the lunar surface. Ten shoebox-sized secondary payloads, called CubeSats, reach space on Artemis I’s SLS rocket, and several other probes fly aboard the Orion spacecraft during the flight test. Each of the payloads will perform science and technology experiments in deep space, expanding our understanding of lunar science, technological developments and radiation in deep space. The US space agency is targeting August 18 to drop the SLS and Orion spacecraft at Launch Pad 39B in Florida. It will be live-streamed on the NASA Kennedy YouTube channel , starting at 18:00 ET (23:00 BST). The launch window is then set between 08:33 ET and 10:33 ET (13:33 BST and 15:33 BST) on August 29.
NASA to land first woman and first person of color on moon in 2025 as part of Artemis mission
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.
NASA chose her to personify the return path to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 – 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 complete 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 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will set the stage 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 with 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 during a roughly three-week mission.
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 spacecraft has done without docking at a space station, and it will return home faster and hotter than ever before.
With this first exploratory mission, NASA is leading the next steps of human exploration into deep space, where astronauts will build and begin testing the near-lunar systems needed for missions to the lunar surface and exploration to other destinations further afield from Earth, including Mars.
The crew will drive to a different orbit and test Orion’s critical systems with humans on board.
Together, Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will be able to meet the most demanding crew and cargo mission needs in deep space.
Ultimately NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.
The space agency hopes this colony will reveal new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advances and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.
