Travelling to the Moon: The NASA Lunar Initiative
American astronauts got to the lunar surface for the first time 50 years ago. That was the 11th flight by the Apollo project run by NASA. This project was adopted by the US in 1961 and it was active for 14 years.
17 projects were undertaken through the Apollo project. During those projects, astronauts attained 6 successful arrivals at the lunar surface; they even collected 382 kilograms of soil which they brought to earth.
Currently, the Americans are resuming the lunar project and they changed its name to Artemis. Their goal now is to go above the lunar surface and get samples of soils. Through this initiative, NASA believes that they will be able to ensure that human beings can survive in the moon region by the coming 5 years. That will additionally assist any upcoming researches and will help create a powerful foundation for the lunar economy.
The major aim of NASA is to get a space base at the lunar surface which can, later on, be a launching pad for travelling to Mars.
The Artemis project
This project will be carried out in the three stages below:
1st stage
Here crucial items will be taken to the moon. NASA had already selected 9 space companies which will be taking scientific devices to the earth satellite. Among the 9 selected companies is Max Polyakov’s Firefly Aerospace.
Firefly Aerospace by Max Polyakov is ready to offer the space sector an automobile named Alpha. Next year, this company is also expected to release a carrier rocket.
2nd stage
This is where the safety of the astronauts will be planned. A program referred to as Gateway will be used to ensure their safety. That program will even be able to prepare astronauts for the dangers that they might encounter when carrying out their mission.
3rd stage
Now, this is where astronauts will reach the moon and then go back to orbit region.
Firefly Aerospace by Max Polyakov is the only company that is taking part in the Artemis project. Lately, Ukraine has been one of the best space countries. The capability of Ukraine in engineering is very high and since 2018, the R&D center by Firefly has been running there. So far, the parts of the expected 2 rockets and the prototypes for the first satellite are being designed.
For a period of two years now, Firefly Aerospace has managed to acquire permission for the US air force launches to enter a contract with several companies to provide launch services. NASA has also seen all the efforts that Firefly is making. That is why they picked it to participate in the Artemis project.
Firefly Aerospace will launch their rocket named Alpha by the end of this year. That is expected to bring 6 Airbus satellites to the orbit. What is expected to follow after that is the launching of Gamma and Beta rockets? Firefly is additionally thinking of creating a moon rover and the remote observation satellite.
