Hello and
welcome to
another episode of NASA's
Science Live,
an opportunity
for you to interact
with our NASA's experts.
Ask your questions
and have them answered
in real time.
I'm your host, Dr.
Mamta Nagaraja, and today
I am so excited
that we are going
to get to talk
about the science
onboard NASA's Artemis
One mission.
So if you have questions,
send them in using the hashtag
Artemis on social media
or drop a comment in the box.
Wherever you're watching today.
So you might have seen
the incredible launch of NASA's
most powerful rocket
from Kennedy Space Center
on November 16
since then,
the spacecraft on board,
named Orion has completed
two close flybys
of the lunar surface
and has flown farther
than any other spacecraft
built for humans.
Yesterday,
it finished
its return to Earth
with a splashdown
in the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis one is a flight test
to prove
that the technology all works
before we put humans onboard.
Artemis two.
But there is a lot of science
on board, lucky for us.
And we are going to
talk about that today,
and that science
is going to help us
learn how humans can thrive in
deep space.
Now, some of the science had
been has been deployed
in the form of CubeSats.
And if you've ever heard
that phrase,
the best things come in
small packages.
That's pretty much a CubeSat
about the size of a shoebox,
fully functioning spacecraft
and some of the science.
Is nestled
inside the Orion
that splashed down yesterday
in the Pacific Ocean.
Let's learn
more about the science
on the Artemis one mission.
Artemis
one is paving the way
for us to explore
deeper and deeper into space.
I think Artemis is
one is significant
on so many levels.
It is a new frontier
to do science.
So the primary objective
is to test
the Orion spacecraft
integrated with the space
launch system.
And it is designed to
to carry out
the boldest
of the bold missions.
But it's more
than just learning
how to travel in space.
We're taking a lot of
cool science
along with us on this
first mission to the moon.
So as NASA plans
to go back
to the surface of the moon and.
Then onto Mars,
we want to spend
more time there.
And that's riskier business.
So the more we learn
about the moon itself
and the environment
where we'll be operating,
the better we can prepare.
We have ten CubeSats
called secondary payloads,
which are small scientific
spacecraft of their own
that will each
be conducting
their own scientific mission.
All of these payloads,
in some form or fashion,
will help us going forward.
They are going
to be studying the.
Moon and they're going
to help us understand
what is the moon made out of,
what types of rocks,
what types of regolith,
what types of ice,
what's mixed in with water
that might be present.
They're going to be studying
the sun.
Understanding and studying
the space environment
or the space weather.
Some different.
Propulsion systems.
These novel ideas
will ultimately turn
into the technology
and the systems
that we want to use
going forward.
There's a lot of cool things
going on between
all these CubeSats
that make up
our secondary payloads.
Additionally, inside,
the Orion will be flying
an experiment to study
space biology.
Space biology is where we study
the underlying changes
that Earth based
biological systems undergo
when they're in space.
Or basically,
how does life respond
to the space environment.
The level of ionizing radiation
that you experience
when you go beyond the Van
Allen Belt.
So you go
beyond the protective
magnetic sphere
that we have around us.
You then get exposed
to higher levels
of ionizing radiation.
So we are flying several
space biology experiments that.
Will take a series
of materials.
Plants, fungi,
the yeast cells, algae.
And ride along the trip.
And then when it comes
home, we can analyze
how they responded
to that environment.
This research
will help us thrive in space.
It will help us to go further
and stay there longer.
So there you have it.
I hope you agree with me.
This is exciting.
The science will conduct
on Artemus.
One lays the groundwork
to ensure
that we can safely conduct
scientific activities
at the moon with our astronauts
going forward.
This really is
the stepping stone for us
as we take that next giant
leap in space exploration.
Artemis
one is
indeed paving the way for us
to explore
deeper and deeper in space.
And with me today
to tell
you more about that and answer
your questions are two
we just saw in the video.
I have Dr.
Sharmila Bhattacharya, NASA's
senior program
scientist for space biology
and also a personal mentor
of mine, and Dr.
Jacob Bleacher,
NASA's chief
exploration scientist.
Sharmila and Jake,
thank you
so much
for being with us today.
Thank you for inviting us, Mamta
That's a real pleasure
to be here.
Yeah.
Really exciting times.
We have our
Orion spacecraft home,
but the work's just starting.
Really exciting.
Definitely.
So that leads me perfectly
into my first question
for each of you and Sharmila.
I'll go to you first.
Is there anything
of particularly that
you're excited to learn about
as we start getting some of the
science back?
Yeah, absolutely.
You know,
for me, all of it,
you know, there are,
for example,
on the package
that came back yesterday
on the Orion vehicle,
there are four experiments
for space biology,
experiments on a diverse
set of
organisms, you know, fungus,
algae, you know,
yeast cell and plant seeds
and we have never exposed
these systems
to this unique environment
in deep space.
So I'm just excited
to see what we find
and what we learn from
all of it.
Yeah, you and I
have this shared
love of space biology
because I too
am a space biologist
and I love that
this we've never
done this before.
I mean,
this is new and novel and yeah,
we're going to learn
so much from it.
Jake Is there
anything particular
that you're excited about?
Well, you know, we are now
on a path to
with Artemus
to send our astronauts
to the South
Pole of the moon place
that no one's ever been before.
I mean,
it doesn't get any better
than that, right?
So learning
what the spacecraft
has to tell us about the trip
it just took
is really exciting to me.
But I am a scientist,
so I really am interested
to know what
all the CubeSats
are going to tell us.
They're they're out there
flying through space
right now,
talking to us,
giving us some data back,
learning about what
the environment was like,
where we expect our astronauts
to go
when they ride on the Orion
out around the moon
and Artemisia,
and then eventually
to land on the moon
in Artemus three.
You know, it's
just it's really hard
to pick a winner here.
It's all exciting.
For sure.
But you lead me perfectly,
Jake, into my next question.
So I'll start with you
with yesterday's splashdown.
What science
has returned to Earth
and what scientist
stayed in space?
Yeah.
So, first of all,
the most important science,
from my perspective,
is what our Orion spacecraft
has to tell us.
So it's splashdown
just off the coast
of San Diego,
and it's carrying with it
just a wealth of data
about flying in deep space.
The spacecraft just took a trip
one 1.4
million miles
long to get back
here to the earth.
And it's it's
basically gone on a trip
that will be similar to
where our astronauts will go
and a similar talked about.
It's in places
where we haven't really studied
what the space environment is
like when it interacts
with with life here from Earth.
So we brought back
some payloads
that came along
for the ride with Orion,
but we also sent out
a series of these
secondary CubeSats
we call them.
So you mentioned them
the the shoe box
sized spacecraft.
Each one of those
is like its own,
you know, science mission
out and out in the space.
And some of them are
looking at the moon,
some of them are learning
about the space
weather environment,
you know,
kind of that weather
from the sun
that we'll
we'll have to live in
when we go out.
Some are traveling out
and different trips
out into space
to study different locations.
So we've got a series
of those out in space
right now.
And then we brought back
the Orion,
and the Orion
has some really cool science
inside of it as well.
So Sharmila, can you tell me
more about
some of those biology
experiments?
Did any of them
come back to Earth?
Yes. So.
So this is perfect
because Jake
set the stage for the fact
that some of the science
went out of secondary payloads.
And then and then,
as you mentioned,
that some of them came back.
So we actually have
biology experiments on both.
So for the ones coming back
then, as we discussed earlier,
there are four experiments
in what we call a suite.
It's an instrument
called bio experiment,
one which actually consists
of four different experiments
with four different
living systems,
which will help us understand
the effects
of this environment,
of the deep space environment
on a diverse number
of biological systems.
And then we have
the one
biology experiment
in the CubeSat
that went to the free flier.
And what's
really cool about that
one as well is that
that one is going
towards the sun.
So that one is going far,
far away
from where we are located
and where we been,
you know, in low-Earth orbit
and the International
Space Station.
And this payload uses
the yeast cell
and it looks
that it has a really nice way
of doing science
by looking at the changes
on the cell
called the yeast cell,
the same yeast cells
that you use
to make bread or beer,
and it will experience
this environment.
Things
like radiation
will affect its biology
in such a way
that we could measure
that change
by looking at growth.
And it'll send
all that data back
by telemetry from deep space.
We never have to get
that science back.
And so
we will get
all of the information
over the next several months
as those cells get activated
by putting media into them,
feeding them,
and then watching them grow.
So that's one set.
And then the ones
that came back to Earth,
as you mentioned,
are the ones
that splashed down yesterday.
And that amazing
video that we just saw.
What we're going
to do is
all of that science
will actually be done
in the researchers lab on Earth
so we can get pretty complex
with the kind of
science analysis
we're going to do,
because the research,
as the principal investigators,
will actually the tools
will get
these experiments
back in their laboratories
and then they can look at
how did they grow,
how did they respond, you know,
which specific genes
are responsible
for helping us thrive
in this novel environment.
And when I say genes, you know,
I know
you know this really well, but
DNA inside all of our cells
consists of these elements.
They're like words inside
a sentence called genes.
And those genes are
what are responsible
for making RNA.
And then the RNA makes protein
and the proteins
do all the work
inside yourself.
So at the end of
this experiment,
we'll get lots
of valuable information
about how these genes function
in this unique environment.
Sharmila You led me perfectly
into my next thought,
and that's
what was going to happen
to the science
once it's come here.
So you told us about
the biology ones.
Jake You mentioned, you know,
one of the things
you're interested in
is all the science
we're going to get
from the spacecraft itself.
So what,
what are we going
to learn from that
and how are we going
to learn from
all of that different
information we get back?
Sure.
So the Orion's been
talking to us
throughout the entire trip
that I took around the moon.
So we also have a
we already have a lot of that
data back
and we're
starting to work through it.
And so we're
what's great about it
is the mission
went really well.
The spacecraft flew well.
The space launch system,
the big rocket part
that that made
the really spectacular
made it
basically made it
like nighttime in the daytime
when that thing launched.
You know,
we got a ton of data from that.
And the space
launch system performed
extremely well.
The Orion performed well.
We were able to get the mission
complete.
We even were able to do
some additional work
along the way.
But, you know,
one of the big parts
for the mission
was coming back to Earth,
coming into Earth
at an extremely fast
speed, almost 25,000
miles per hour.
And as the Orion comes
into the Earth's atmosphere,
it creates a lot of friction,
kind of like
when you rub
your hands together
and they get warm.
But like a lot more than that.
So it gets really hot.
And so one of the big parts
we had to study
was how to slow the Orion down
because we've got to
protect our astronauts,
our friends
who are riding inside.
So as the Orion comes
into the atmosphere,
it heats up.
And so we're going to be able
to actually
look at the Orion Now
when we take it to
back to Kennedy
to to understand how
well it performed
and how well the job it did.
And then it had some parachutes
that open up
that slowed it down
for its eventual splashdown,
looking at how
it performed
floating in the ocean,
for instance.
So we have to be able
to get to the Orion to help
get our astronauts
out of the Orion.
I once it's in the water.
So the whole bunch of steps
that go on there
that will
work through the data,
analyze that data,
and it's all very important
for us to have the confidence
that we need
to put our friends in there.
For Artemus, too,
which will be another fly
around the moon,
but with astronauts on board.
So it just gets more
and more exciting each time.
Yes, it does.
And I studied
aerospace engineering
for my undergraduate degree,
so the aero science
that you just described
is so fascinating to me.
I love that
entire branch of science.
So my next
question and Sharmila,
I'll start with you.
There is a considerable number
of experiments
that we had on board
that we're focusing on,
and you mentioned this before,
the effects of radiation.
Why is that so important
as we set the stage
for future Artemus missions?
Yeah, great question there.
So the reason that's important
for us to to really measure
and to understand
is that radiation is simply
a reality.
I mean, we're exposed
to ionizing radiation
on the surface of the earth.
We're exposed
to ionizing radiation
on the international
Space Station,
and we'll be exposed
to a little bit
more of that same
sort of radiation
when we go beyond the Van
Allen belts
as you heard in the
earlier video.
And so it becomes important
to really understand
what the biological effects
as well as the other effects
actually, you know, the effects
on the electronics, etc.,
of this radiation
just so that we are
well prepared.
You know,
we know what to take with us.
We know how to counter it.
We know what sorts of
foods, etc., might be able to
to help protect us,
you know,
and and again, improve us
in terms of thriving in this
deep space environment.
Yeah, that's great.
J Do you
have anything to add
on that too?
Because I know there's
many different perspectives
when we're looking
at radiation.
Yeah,
I think Jamila said it right.
It's a reality
that that's part
of the environment, right?
And,
and just like here on Earth,
we have different
types of weather
on different days.
And so maybe some days
the weather is not as great
for what you want to do
and you kind of plan around it.
And and that's what we're doing
now, is we're planning
how to do these space
missions in the future.
And so as we learn about what
normal conditions are like,
as we learn
what may be non normal
conditions are like,
we can understand
what the spectrum
of that space weather
looks like
so that we can prepare for it.
And, you know,
I used to do
a lot of field work
here on Earth.
I used to study volcanoes,
and we used to say,
you know, it's
not that there's bad weather,
there's just bad preparation.
And so that's what we do
now, is we prepare,
we learn by flying spacecraft
like the Orion,
by flying the CubeSats,
they're all teaching us
about that environment
that we have to prepare for
so that when our
astronaut friends
go to the moon,
we know as much as we can
about it.
But, you know,
exploration by definition
is kind of
going into the unexplored.
So we will always
learn as we go
and then we adapt to that
and we plan for the next
time we get a shot at it.
Yeah, Yeah, totally.
So even though there weren't
any humans on, Artemis is one,
there were a few
special passengers
that will help pave the way
for future missions.
Let's take a look and learn
more about these passengers.
Inside the Orion spacecraft.
As we fly around the moon,
we have some cool experiments
going on to help us understand
what the environment is like.
Although there's
no humans aboard.
Artemus one
we do have a few special
passengers aboard
that will help us pave the way
for future Artemus missions.
So there's basically
three occupants riding
and kind of think about it
like three astronauts.
We have a moon akin.
We will also have two torsos
that are learning
about the moon
and learning
about the environment
for our astronauts
before they go.
We have a mannequin
on this one.
We call them our moon mannequin
for sure.
That moon skin
is called Commander
Moon Skin Campus.
The name is actually in homage
to Arturo Campos, who.
Was an important person
who helped bring the Apollo
13 capsule home.
The moon again
will sit
in the commander's seat
and it will wear a suit
just like our astronauts
will wear.
Mannequin composes
is actually weighted
to simulate an actual human
aboard the Orion spacecraft.
So will help us understand
what our astronauts
will experience
as they go to the moon
and hope the.
Orion crew survival system suit
and the Orion seat
were designed
simultaneously to fit together
as a seamless package.
The actual design of the suit
was built into the Orion seat,
such that
when they're in
the suit, in the seat
is a true cocoon of protection
for them.
During this test flight,
the seat will actually
be instrumented
with accelerometers.
Sensors
that tell us
how much the chair is shaking
during launch and reentry,
and how many G-forces
or gravitational forces
that experiences.
We expect
Commander Mooney
can compose to have
a very exciting ride on his way
to orbit
the thrill of launch,
the experience
of weightlessness,
the excitement of landing,
what we learned on Artemus
one with our mannequins
assistants will help
us better understand
how a human will actually
behave in the seat,
both for landing
and for launch,
to allow us
to ensure their safety.
In addition to the moon again,
we'll have two seats
that have basically
what's like a human dummy,
an upper torso
that are detecting
how much radiation
they're experiencing.
It's called a trash asteroid's
radiation experiment. Mari?
Mari, it's
an international collaboration
with German
Aerospace center DLR
and with Israel's space agency,
the Mara experiment
consists of two anthropomorphic
phantoms called Helga and Zohar
that are simulating
a female body
in a space
radiation environment.
One of those will be wearing
a safety.
Vest,
the asteroid radiation vest.
That we hope will help
protect our astronauts
from radiation.
Each one of the two phantoms
will be equipped
with about 20 battery operated
radiation instruments.
So between the two
will be able to determine
how well we can
protect our astronauts
from radiation events.
Space. Radiation.
It's a mix of high energy,
heavy charged particles
that originate
from the sun
to put things in perspective,
one year of earth
exposure to cosmic
rays is equivalent
with one day of space
radiation exposure
in deep space.
The purpose of the MRA
experiment
is to learn more
about the radiation exposure,
as well
as the biological effects
of different organs.
So basically
it's like we have
three occupants
inside Orion
that are learning
about the moon
and learning
about the environment
for our astronauts
before they go.
Going back to the moon
with new exploration
goals and new technologies
will help us gain better
understanding of the challenges
we encounter with deep
space exploration.
We will have to develop
new technology
and solutions to meet
really difficult challenges.
But that's what NASA does.
That's
what Artemus is all about.
All right, so, Jake Sharmila,
this is my favorite part
of any NASA's science lab.
We're about to answer
the questions
that people have been sending,
and they want to know
so much about Artemis.
So these are some
good questions.
And I know many of you
online have questions.
So if you want to use
the hashtag
Artemus on social media
or drop a comment in the box
wherever you're watching today,
we will get those questions
and try to answer
as many as we can.
So the first one
I'm going to send to you,
Jake Sharvin
gets one on Twitter, asks,
How will the outcome
of the mannequin test influence
What changes are made for
the next Artemus mission?
Yeah, that's
that's what it's
all about, right?
They're out there
to help us
learn about the environment
that our astronauts
will travel through.
So as we learn about,
for instance,
what Hogan's other
have to tell us, Helga
and Zohar have to tell us
they're going to
tell us about radiation
and whether or not
some of the materials
that we design
asteroids shoot out of can help
kind of minimize
the amount of radiation
that they're exposed to.
So that will probably influence
maybe how we design
safety blankets
or suits or something
that they can wear
so that
if they're in a situation
where they need
to protect themselves,
they have something to use.
It could eventually influence
how we design the
outside of spacecraft.
All of these types of
lessons can help us
learn about
the next technological step
we need to take.
So it's all important for us.
And Commander Campos,
he's teaching us a little bit
about how the seat designs
will work to kind of minimize
just how much
they're being shaken
during their travel.
So that helps us understand
the interior
design of the spacecraft
and how the suits are designed
to interact with the
with the spacecraft itself.
So together
they just kind of help
make the ride a little smoother
and also just kind of help us
make sure
we've got them outfitted
with the right gear
to safely conduct
the missions
we'll ask our astronauts
to do in the future.
Yeah, it's
one of my favorite parts
of the science
that went up on Artemus.
One is just having
those dummies
and all of the
the collection of that.
What are those?
What are people
going to experience
when they're in this rocket?
It is the most powerful rocket
we have.
So I find that so fascinating.
So let's say
let's see, Sharmila,
maybe you can take this one.
And if I send you a question
and you think the other person
should answer it,
feel free to toss it around.
I think we're
pretty informal here
on NASA's science life.
So Algolia
and Dega on Twitter asks,
Will capsule be reused?
Actually,
I am going to hand
that over to Jake.
I think that's
that's a good
question for Jake.
Yeah.
So the capsules are
designed to be able
to be reused.
That's one thing
that we're doing with
with the new systems
is trying to be
able to reuse them.
And if it's not
the entire capsule,
as we continue
to develop
things in the future,
we certainly will learn
from each one
and develop
new systems
based off the knowledge
that we gained from them.
But the intent is
for us to be able to reuse.
Those spacecraft
only go forward.
Awesome.
Thanks, Jake.
Yeah.
So, Sharmila,
I do think that you can
you can tell us
more about this one.
So Connor on Twitter asks,
What can we expect?
When can we expect
to see all of the data
and the science
that's stored on the spacecraft
and the and the science
and what kind of data
can we expect to see?
Yeah, great question,
Connor, and thanks for that.
So, you know, it will depend,
as I mentioned, for the science
that's come back on Orion.
There are four
different experiments,
so there's different analysis
that's going to be done
on each of those four
different organisms.
Typically, though,
the analysis for most studies
take about a year
from when you get the samples
back.
Also, don't forget that
we have to do a ground control
that matches
the exact conditions
that the spaceflight
samples went through.
And so usually we do that
after return
of the flight samples
because we have all kinds
of sensors
and detectors
inside the experiment package,
which measures,
you know, temperature,
humidity, you know,
radiation levels.
There's other changes
that are being measured.
And so you want to recreate
as best as you can,
at least the temperature,
humidity, gas composition,
these sorts of things.
And so those will be recreated
in the ground control
and then
the ground control
and the spaceflight samples
will both be analyzed
and compared to each other
so that we can tell
what the changes are.
So to give you a brief example,
you know, for the seeds,
the researchers will look at,
you know,
the seeds
that came back from space
and that were exposed
to this kind of elevated
radiation environment,
how well did they germinate?
How robustly do they grow?
Does the addition
of these increased
amino acid content,
does it help it
survive better in space?
And then likewise
for some of the others,
for the yeast cells,
you know, we'll be looking at
what are some of the genes
that helped make those cells
more robust
in this environment.
For example?
Yeah, and I think, Sharmila,
what's important to note
is science takes time to do.
And so when we get all
of this information,
we and science
has a rigor to it.
And the whole reason
we have that rigor to it
is so that we can be
as accurate as possible
when we interpret
the data that we get.
But I think Connor's question
also, Jake,
can allude to the science
and the data,
the information,
not the science,
but the data we're getting
from the spacecraft itself.
So do you have any insight on
when we'll be able
to get that information
and be able to interpret it
and improve the next missions?
Sure.
I mean, some of
it's already here.
We've been talking to the Orion
throughout its entire flight.
So Orion's
been telling us a lot
about how it handles in space.
It had to make
several different
engine burns
in order to put it in
just the right trajectory.
So, you know,
one of the great things
about the math involved in
flying in space is you're
trying to balance
how fast you're going
with gravitational pulls
from things like the moon.
So as you go out
around the moon
to stay on course
that you want to keep,
you have to
add a little bit of thrust
to your vehicle.
So fire those engines off.
Every one of those
gave us more data about
how the engines worked,
how they
performed, how the
vehicle responded
to that amount of thrust
that we gave it.
And and again,
we perform really well,
which is exciting to us
because that means
we're in pretty good shape
to start planning
for the next item,
this mission almost too.
So we're already
learning about it.
But now with Orion back here
on Earth, safe and sound,
we can actually go and start
to study the Orion itself.
So looking at things
like how well did
the Heat shields perform?
Was there anything that didn't
quite operate
the way we thought it did?
So those are the steps
they'll take, you
know, weeks, months,
even years.
I mean,
what's great about science is
you kind of do
the study, right?
You do the research,
but then it serves
as a point of comparison
for everything else
that you learn.
So every time
we fly a spacecraft in space,
we can compare it
to what we learned
from this mission
to help us better
prepare for that next mission.
So it's starting now
and a lot of that work
will be done
over the next weeks to months,
but it never ends really.
It will always be there
to help us understand
how to fly in space.
Yeah, I love that
idea that you just expressed
because science does
build on top of each other.
As soon as you learn something,
you come up with
another question
and then you think, Well,
what about this?
And it just continues
and it just loops.
And that's how we end up
with this huge
body of knowledge.
I love that thought, Jake.
So I think this one
can go to both of you.
So I'd love to hear
your thoughts on
Humberto Silva on YouTube.
And I'm sorry
if I did not say your name
correctly, wants to know
what is the principal
difference between Apollo
and the Artemus missions?
Sharmila, let's start with you.
Yeah.
So, you know,
one of the things with the art,
with the Apollo
missions is
it was still in the early days,
you know,
that was when we were first
heading back, you know,
outside of our
own comfort zone,
so to speak,
and heading towards the moon
and then getting
to the surface of the moon.
So there was so much unknown
that we really
had to focus
then on
getting there,
keeping our astronauts safe.
And so on.
So there wasn't as much of this
very carefully
controlled science
that we are now
sending up on the Artemis
Series of missions where,
you know, we've sort of,
you know, and Jake,
I'm sure, will further
elaborate on this.
You know,
we have the technologies now
as as you've seen
Anonymous want to get there
and get back safely.
So now we really need
to use these platforms
to understand the science
so that we can be better
prepared for our future mission
to Mars, for example,
which is going to be further
than any human has been
ever.
And so
I think
for me, at least
from the science perspective,
that's one major difference.
But, Jake, you know, please add
other perspectives as well.
Yeah.
So both Apollo and Artemus,
the intention
is to put astronauts
on the moon,
but there are
some significant differences.
So Apollo
was a series of missions
that went to near
the equator of the moon
and all on the near
side of the moon.
So the side of the moon
that continually
faces the earth.
So all of those landings
were kind of like
right in the
middle of the moon,
as you would see it,
when you look at it
in the night sky
where we want to go
with Artemus
is to the south
pole of the moon.
And the reason
we want to go to
the South Pole
is we've learned
so much since Apollo
and what we've learned
is that in some cases
there are craters at the polls
that never see sunlight.
We refer to them
as being permanently shadowed
and because of their
permanent shadows,
they don't interact
with the sun.
And so
materials that we call
volatile elements,
volatile molecules,
that means that
if they see the sun,
they become
volatile eyes, they turn to gas
and they're lost.
These volatiles in these places
that never see the sun,
they just kind of
get stuck there.
And so over the whole history
of the solar system,
these volatiles have collected
in these cold traps,
these permanent shadows.
And so what that means is
we think there's actually
big deposits of ice there.
Ice is really important to us.
Life needs water.
And if there's already water
on the moon,
it's a resource we can use.
If you think about
taking a trip here on Earth,
you can't possibly
take everything with you.
Every time you leave
your house.
You depend on the fact that
a place you go to
is going to have
a water fountain, right?
So we are looking for
that water fountain on the moon
and we can use that water
maybe for ourselves.
But we can break it down
into hydrogen and oxygen,
maybe even make things
like fuel
or use the oxygen to breathe.
So it is really different.
But but it's all part of an arc
or a trajectory of exploration.
It's not that Apollo
and Artemus
are different than each other.
It's just a different stage
of learning
how to explore deep space.
So Apollo did
those first trips to the moon,
and we learned so much
from Apollo.
Since then, we've been sending
orbiters and landers
to the moon
from various countries
around the globe
learning about the moon.
And that's how we learned that
that water is actually there.
And so now we're
in this position for Artemus,
which is just wonderful,
where we can go
and start
to actually spend more time
on the surface of the moon and
and get to the point
where we actually have
reusable infrastructure.
If we can take something along
like a small
vehicle
that we can drive around.
The late
Apollo missions
took one on each lander.
But if we can take one
and just reuse it,
then we don't have to
bring one on each time.
And that leaves more space
for us to bring other things
like more science experiments
or to take more rocks home
or samples
from the lunar surface.
So, you know,
they're different,
but they're building
on each other.
They're learning.
Artemus is learning
from Apollo,
all the other spacecraft
that have been there
since Apollo two put us in
this just
great chance
to go explore the unknown.
And I think you touched on them
a little bit, Jake,
but also one of
the great differences
between the two is
Artemis is
is really an international
cooperative effort.
Also, we have lots of partners
around the world
who are super excited
to help the U.S.
explore the moon again.
I find that really
great fascinating.
Yeah, this is it.
You know, we talk about this.
You know, this is not a
just a NASA thing, right?
This is
this is a collaboration
this is a humankind thing.
And we're going together
just just on this flight.
The European Space
Agency provided
an element of Orion
that helped helped us
steer it and fly through space,
the service module.
So a piece of that mission
came from
a several other countries
over in Europe
and several of the payloads,
the secondary payloads
we talk about those CubeSats
that went out were provided
by other countries.
So, you know, the
all of it is learning
how to work together,
be partners.
What's also neat about it
is it's not just international.
We're partnering companies
who are building
the spacecraft for us now.
So the SLS,
the space launch system,
which is the Rocket
and the Orion crew capsule,
those were NASA
spacecraft built
with some of our contractors.
But many of the future
elements, the landers,
the vehicles on the surface,
they're going to be
coming from companies
that that we all know
and know the names of that are
that are going
to be building those for us.
And so it just really
is this wonderful
like I described
being at the Artemis
one launch is just this
like comforting
supportive environment
where you know
just people from all around
the globe were paying attention
and excited to
see what was happening.
There's something so
poetic about what
you just said.
You said we are going together.
I don't know.
There is just
something very heartwarming
about that,
that it's all humankind.
So, Sharmila,
I got a question for here
at Korina Ya on Twitter asks
Why do they use
yeast and bacteria
in their experiments?
Yeah, another
excellent question.
So, you know,
because as
we've been discussing,
Artemis is one is is the start
you know a renewal of a program
you know within NASA
to help us continue
to explore these
these new places.
So as a result,
the primary goal of this
mission
was to make sure
that we got the rocket
and the Orion crew capsule
and all of this
working safely and effectively.
So the science that came along
came along for the ride.
You know, NASA
is, you know, as you know,
you know, is is a very heavily
science based and,
you know, science
interested organization.
And so we didn't want to lose
that opportunity
to do valuable science.
But at the same time,
we didn't
want to risk the primary
goal of this mission,
which was to ensure
that we could get back
to these new
environments safely.
So therefore, the experiments
that we selected
to go on these first mission
and the same is actually true
for the next mission, is,
you know,
these are more
robust organisms.
They're very good
biological models, though,
for doing
biology research on Earth.
In fact, these have been
workhorses
that have been used on Earth
for many decades now.
And help us understand
fundamental biology about how,
you know, genes
within the DNA get transcribed
and make RNA and make protein.
You know,
all of this
was initially worked out
in systems
like the yeast cells
and bacterial cells and so on.
And so,
you know, the
the the intent was
to find something
that scientifically
very important
but at the same time
very robust.
So to give you an example,
you know,
for some of the experiments
we had to load them
weeks ahead
of and in some cases
actually
for some of the free fliers
we had to load
the biology months before
item is one actually launched.
So we couldn't
really fly experiments
that needed,
you know, a lot of tender
loving care for the cells
because we were
not going to be able
to access those payloads
on those experiments
till,
you know, many weeks
or many months before launch.
And so the art here
was to pick things
that would give us
very good science,
but at the same time
would be able to withstand
some of the
engineering requirements
which required us
to do testing
on various
components of the rocket
and the Crookham crew capsule
before we could do our science.
And so so that's
what went behind
the thought of how to pick
what kind of science we do.
And I think you touched
on it for Carina,
a lot of what we know
about the human body today,
if you traced it back,
we started learning about it
in bacteria or yeast
or similar organisms.
So we'll be able to
learn so much from these,
even though they're, you know,
they seem like
they would be
too small or ineffective.
They're actually
really great organism
for us
to learn more
about fundamental biology.
So I think that's exactly
right.
Sharmila
So as we mentioned
before, Artemis is
one has a few hitchhikers
on board.
The idea of these
small secondary payloads
is to make the most
of the space
launch rocket system.
This, the space
launch system Rocket sorry,
And you had did not sound
right coming out there.
These shoebox sized CubeSats
are not related
to the primary mission,
but each one will carry out
different science
and technology
demonstrations like you heard
Jake talk about before.
So from searching
for water, ice
and mapping the lunar surface
to technology demonstration,
these CubeSats
allow us to learn
how to reduce
risk and improve our systems
overall for future missions.
To learn
more about the CubeSats
on Artemus one
and their missions,
visit Go
NASA dot gov
slash Artem is science.
Now let's take
more of the questions
that you have
and Sharmila and Jake.
I've been taking a peek at them
and they're getting even better
and better.
Such intelligent,
insightful questions
from our audience today.
Let's see.
So JJ on
YouTube asks,
he says,
I have two related
questions for you.
What are the moon
and phantoms made out of and at
love in Gem, I think.
And sorry about these names
if I get them wrong on
Twitter wants to know
why is it so important
for us
to study radiation
of the female body so, Jacob,
we'll start with you.
Well, the
reason that's
important to study,
we have sent
people to the moon,
but all of the astronauts
that went to the were men.
So it's really important
for us to collect some data
to begin
filling in
that lack of information
that we have for
what happens to the female body
when we travel
through deep space.
So that's one of the reasons
that the
the Helga and Zohar
were designed
to mimic a female body
so we can collect
some of that data.
As for what is made out of,
it's made of material
to replicate
in the DNA
that that makes up a female
as opposed to a male body.
And so together
going out there, one
wearing a protective vest
and one not wearing the vest,
they can begin to look at
what is the
what is the result
if you have
none of that protection versus
having some of that protection
there.
So, again,
we have some data
from our Apollo astronauts
that tells us about
how the male body
responded to that
deep space environment.
And now we've collected
some of that information
with all of us.
One, to help fill out
and have a more robust
understanding that actually
represents our astronaut
the breadth of our astronauts.
Today.
I'm so glad
they asked those questions
because I didn't even think
about why we were modeling
and have these female
mannequins on board.
But that makes perfect sense
now that you say it, Jake.
All right.
So for you, Sharmila,
at some Mon
Joe Moore on Facebook
asks us
with the bio experiments,
are we also looking at how
we might need to bio adapt
and not just protect as we are?
Yeah, another
great question, Mon.
So yes,
adaptation is definitely,
you know,
especially as we're
going to do long
term space exploration
in the future,
you know, going to
Mars and back is going to be
something like a
2 to 3 year roundtrip.
And then,
you know,
coupled with that,
you know, time to stay on.
So we are increasingly going
to have to look at
spending more time there.
So, yes,
some of the studies
are definitely going
to begin to look at that.
But you
remember, this was
a relatively short
duration trip
because, again,
we wanted the capsule back,
having said that, you know,
until an experiment
that I mentioned
that is going towards
the heliocentric orbit,
that one, for example,
is going to look at long
term, longer term exposure.
And so we're going
to look at almost
six months or more.
You know,
as long as we can
get the data back,
we will continue
to do that research.
And so you're absolutely right.
Some of the changes
that we will be looking at
are the the immediate changes.
And therefore, you know,
what can you do?
What can you learn
from some of that?
But then some of the data
will actually point
towards the long term changes,
which will hint more towards,
you know, how do you acclimate?
And over
many generations of cell
growth, you know,
how do you actually adapt
to these environments?
So, yes, great question. Yes.
That those are definitely along
the lines of
of what we're interested
in for the science.
That's great.
Thanks, Sharmila.
Okay, Jake,
I'm got a great
question for you.
It sounds like a lot of people
online are asking about Snoopy.
So, Jake,
do you know how he's doing?
And can you explain his role
on the mission? Yeah.
So Snoopy has long
been associated with our
our astronaut flights.
It's he's
always been a part of that.
I think he's
just kind of
a recognized part of
human nature.
You know, he's
always flying around
on his doghouse
and he leads the way
for exploring.
And so he's always participated
with Nassr
and his specific job
on the mission for Artemis.
This one
is to help us understand
when we're out
of that gravitational field.
So when you see Snoopy starting
to kind of float up around,
you know, that
you now are no longer
in that gravitational field.
And in fact,
when you look at any NASA's
launch with crew,
they have one of these gravity
indicators as well.
And sometimes they bring along
a memento
that means more to them.
But on this flight,
this important flight,
Artemus wants Snoopy the ride
along for us.
So Snoopy
came home in the Orion,
splashed down
in the Pacific Ocean,
probably has some
really awesome stories
to tell us,
but for sure
has been telling us
what the gravitational field
is like during
during the art of
this one mission.
I love that.
Jake Oh, my goodness.
Snoopy is beloved
in our culture for sure.
Let's see.
So a viewer on Twitter
asks and Sharmila,
I'm going to start I'm
going to hand this one to you.
Will there be something
like the DNA sequencer
that is used by the astronauts
on the International
Space Station?
And if used on their Orion,
Artem, Artemus,
two and three,
could it determine radiation
damage to microbes on board?
Orion I told you,
these questions
are getting tougher
and they're awesome.
Yes, Yes.
Fabulous question.
And so the answer
is absolutely yes.
So, you know, over time,
we are, in fact, exactly
going to be
doing what you suggest,
which is
we're going to be taking up
more and more of the tools
that we use
on the international Space
Station, for example,
which really help us
to do our science
so we can do it
on the surface of the moon,
for example.
Having said that,
let me also tell you
that one of the experiments
on that bio experiment,
one suite,
one of them is
specifically going to
look at what we call OAM
exchange,
which is which covers
exactly what you're asking,
which is,
you know,
if you sequenced
the RNA, for example,
and you look at
what is called transcriptomics,
it gives you a sense
of how the DNA
and those genes inside the DNA,
how do they respond
in this normal environment.
And so we are going to do that,
for example,
and we're going to
get that information,
but it is going to be done
on the samples
that have come back to Earth.
This time.
You know,
because bio experiment
one is coming
back has come back
and most of the science
is going to be done
on the ground.
So but but again
that what
you say
that is real time sequencing
in space,
you know
on samples
that are flying in space
can absolutely be done
and definitely is
something
that we're going to do.
And the other advantage
of doing what you suggest
is that
many of these operations
are usually automated.
And so the more automated
we can make it, the easier
it will be for us
to do the science in future
on the lunar surface.
So, yes, Yeah, great question.
And totally on the on
the right
track for
what we're interested in doing.
I agree
that was a great question
from our Twitter audience.
Let's see, Jake.
This one is from Electro.
Electro Boy 8128 on YouTube.
He asks, When will
is to launch?
Yeah.
So, Artem, this too.
If everything continues to go
well for us, we're
expecting to be able
to launch our Thomas
to in the year 2024.
So we need a little bit of time
to just make sure we understand
exactly how Orion performed
in the SLS,
the space
launch system perform.
As we pull
all that information together,
will begin planning that.
That next item is launch.
So Artem us to in the year
2024, we'll have our astronaut
friends on board
and it's going to do something
similar will fly out
around the moon
and it will teach us again
about how
how to fly out
in that deep space environment,
what that environment is like.
But this time
it'll be super cool
with the astronauts on board.
You know,
they all have to
bring along stuff
like water
and food and clothing.
So we're going to really start
to load up the Orion
and see how it handles
when it's carrying
more of the mass that it can.
So, like
you think about
driving your car
maybe to school or to work,
you probably don't load it up.
Or if you're going
across the country
to visit somebody,
you really pack
all your stuff in there.
And so ultimately Orion
will need to do that
on its flights to the moon.
And we have to learn
like the prior question about
the types of science
we might carry.
So we need to learn
how much mass
we can carry along with us,
and as we learn how
well the vehicle performs
through these test flights
that will teach us
how to pack it,
how much we can put in there,
how much science
we can take along.
And it's all part of
this whole process of learning
as we go and learning
with each flight
and learning from the science
that we take along.
That puts us in a position
to the next flight.
So 2024 is our goal for
for flying that Orion with
some astronauts inside.
Yeah.
And all
three of us are parents
and I
had a bunch of our audience to
it is too.
And we all know that
2024 might seem like
it's a long way away.
But when you think about it,
it's like
right around the corner.
So it's really
not that far away.
I start measuring things
in terms of
how tall my children
get overnight.
So I know 2024 is not that far
away.
Let's see
Humberto Humberto
Silva on YouTube asked
and this is for both of you
are Sharmila,
we'll start with you.
What is the most
difficult thing
to do on this mission?
Ooh, great question.
So so one of the things that
that Jake alluded to
in the previous question
was that
this one doesn't have
crew on it, right?
Because this is the test flight
sort of pilot.
All the systems work
and everything is nominal
before we put crew in there.
So one of the things that
this made,
you know, made it
a bit of a challenge,
if you please, for doing
science is that, you know,
unlike on
the International Space Station
or in the space
shuttle in the past
or on the Mir space station
where you always had astronauts
or cosmonauts or people there,
the crew was helping us
do science, right?
They were our
research assistants
and our technicians
doing the research
that we needed done.
This one, though,
didn't have that assistance.
So we had to figure out ways
in which
you could either
automate the experiments
like we did
for Bio Sentinel one,
or where you would do the bulk
of the very complicated
analysis after you get it back,
which is what we're doing
for bio experiment one.
So I would say that
would be one of the challenges.
You know, again,
in a way
I wouldn't even call it
the challenge
because the more you're forced
to think of innovative ways
and different ways
to do science,
the more you come up
with intriguing
novel ways
to look at the same thing.
So I think, you know, in
spite of all of that, we've
we've managed to get
quite a nice collection
of science
experiments on board.
But certainly that was
was something
we had to contend with
as we were doing our planning.
That's great.
Jake,
what are you think
what is the most
difficult thing
on this mission?
Well,
I think the one thing
I want to do
is give a big, huge shout out
to all of our engineering teams
that worked on this.
I think you can
you can see a launch
and you can see a spacecraft
splash down in the ocean.
And, you know,
you might think
a few people
worked on that, Right.
But the number of people
that worked on this
and they're divided up
into teams
who work on specific
steps along the process,
I think if you talk to
any one of them,
they would say whatever
the part was they worked on
was probably the hardest part.
And they're not wrong
because all of the steps
have to work
seamlessly together
to make a mission
like this work.
And I don't just mean
the engineers
that worked on the spacecraft,
I mean the engineers
that built the CubeSats,
that built the payloads,
like families
talking about the road
inside Orion,
you know, the tremendous
amount of work
that went into
making this mission a success.
There's not enough credit
to hand out,
but so many steps
assembling the whole vehicle
inside the vehicle
assembly building,
you know,
stacking these pieces
of the rocket together
and then putting the Orion
on top,
rolling it out
to the launch pad.
The launch
obviously is
a spectacular moment
where a whole bunch of things
got to go right.
But, you know, once
it got up into orbit,
you know,
getting the solar
array deployed,
moving the CubeSats out,
deploying the CubeSats,
you know,
every one of those steps
taking Orion.
There were a bunch of
I mentioned already
a bunch of engine burns
we had to do to keep it
in the right trajectory.
Every one of those
has to go well.
And, you know, for
me, it's
when you are watching this
and working inside NASA,
you see these handoffs, right?
It's like we complete a step.
And now this engineering
team's nervous
because they got
the next thing.
And then this engineering team
is nervous
because they've got
the next thing
and every single
one of them just nailed it.
So, you know,
every step is hard.
Spaceflight is
a tough business,
you know,
but we learn and we've learned
from all the predecessors.
I like to say, you know, the
the Isaac Newton phrase,
you know,
we stand on the
shoulders of giants.
And it certainly is true here.
And, you know,
each one of these groups
just their step, performed
phenomenally
and puts us in a position to
to send astronauts to the moon.
Yeah.
And as
President Kennedy said,
we do it because it's hard.
This is what drives us.
Challenges, right?
Humanity's greatest challenges.
That's what drives us.
All right.
So let's see
Travis Ramirez on YouTube asks
if you could go back
and add
one thing to the Artemis,
this one mission,
what would it be?
Sharmila, we'll start with you.
Oh, you're just tuning in.
Yeah, that's
that's really making us
think here.
What is the one thing that
we would have?
Well,
if you want me
to give you a moment
to think for me, I can.
I can give you an answer.
Now that I know
the mission went so well
and everything
performed phenomenally,
the one thing I'd add
would be some astronauts.
But we didn't know that
when I started.
You know, it was a test.
And. It all worked well.
But people have
been happy
to sit inside that thing
knowing that
the ride went well.
You know.
That's an excellent question.
And so. Jake.
Yeah, you know, I'll tell you,
you know,
I would have said
that Let's add more,
let's add science.
But, you know,
we added a lot of science.
So, you know,
we also had these mannequins,
as Jake talked about,
which is so valuable.
It's going
we really need that information
as we get prepared
for the next crewed mission.
So, you know, Snoopy,
we can do without Snoopy,
you know, So
Snoopy was in there.
Check, check, check.
So really,
I can't think of anything
further
that I would have done
or something
I would have done differently
then then how this was done.
So as Jake said, your hat's off
to the whole team
for thinking
through this mission
so carefully
and really being able
to check all the boxes
at the end of the day.
That there's something else.
You know?
Yeah,
I think one thing
I would love
to have been able to do
is just have
everybody be able
to watch the launch, you know?
And so
Artemus is going to be
a series of launches.
And so I hope that
everybody out there
that, you know, is interested
in this stuff
gets a chance
to see one of these launches,
whether it's from far away.
I mean, you could see this one
from pretty far away.
But, you know, it's
just it's an amazing event
to see something like this
to launch a vehicle.
And it will be even more
so when we know
our friends are
going along for the ride.
So I hope
I hope everybody gets a chance
to be involved in Artemus.
There will be
many opportunities
going forward.
So that's one thing
I would definitely like to
like to see.
I think this is the perfect
way to wrap up our show.
That's all the time
we have left today.
I completely agree
that it was so successful.
We had so much
science on board.
All we were missing
were astronauts.
That is the perfect way.
Best lead into Artemus
to come in in 2024.
So, Sharmila, Jake,
thank you so much
for being with us
today, answering
all of these questions.
The super creative,
intelligent,
insightful questions
that our audience asks today.
Yes.
Thank you
all so much for the questions.
Thank you for hosting.
It was a real pleasure
being here today.
Thanks.
And, you know,
I hope I didn't
sound too excited.
It's really hard
to control right now
with so much cool stuff
going on.
But,
you know,
I just want to say
to all the especially
the younger folks out there,
early career engineers,
scientists, technologists
and all the kids out there,
you know, stay curious,
stay excited about this stuff.
I mean, we're
doing this for you.
You're
the ones who are
going to take this and go
explore the stars
in the solar system.
So we're taking these
first baby steps for you.
I hope you're coming
along after us and really
take it take it out there.
Jake, we love your excitement.
That is the perfect way
to end our show.
So if you want to learn more,
visit nasa.gov, Love
slash, Artem,
this one,
and to stay updated
on the program.
And Artemus,
you can follow
at NASA,
Artemus on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram.
End of today's show
Pique your interest.
And Jake and Sharmila left
you wanting to know more.
There is a spot for you
for science too
you can follow at NASA's space
spy on Twitter
for the latest experiments
and results.
Thank you so much for joining
us, asking the best questions.
And we'll see you next time.