The Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule, scheduled to take off on August 29, will carry some special items on board as the spacecraft embarks on a journey beyond the moon.
Inside Orion will be three dummies, toys and even an Amazon Alexa, along with historical and educational items.
The commander’s mission has sensors behind the seat and headrest to monitor acceleration and vibration during the mission, which is expected to last approximately 42 days. The model will also wear the new Orion Crew Survival System suit designed for astronauts to wear during takeoff and re-entry. The suit has two radiation sensors.
Two “ghosts” named Helga and Zohar will ride on the other Orion seats. These mannequin bodies are made of materials that mimic a woman’s soft tissue, organs, and bones. The two bodies have more than 5,600 sensors and 34 radiation detectors to measure how much radiation they were exposed to during the mission.
Named after one of the hunting maids of Artemis in Greek mythology, Callisto’s goal is to show how astronauts and flight controllers can use technology to make their jobs safer and more efficient as humans explore deep space.
Callisto will accompany Orion in the center console. The touchscreen tablet will share live video and audio between the spacecraft and Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center in Houston.
toys in space
Snoopy and emptiness just go together. Created by Charles M. Schulz, the beloved character has been associated with NASA missions since the Apollo program, when Schulz drew comics showing Snoopy on the moon. According to NASA, the Apollo 10 lunar module was nicknamed “Snoopy” because its mission was to spy and reconnaissance the Apollo 11 moon landing site.
A Snoopy plush first flew into space in 1990 on the shuttle Columbia.
A nib used by Schulz of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California, will join the Artemis I mission, wrapped in a space-themed comic. And a plush Snoopy toy will fly in the pod as a zero-gravity display.
The agency has a long history of using toys in space as zero-gravity indicators – so named because they begin to float when the spacecraft enters zero gravity.
As part of NASA’s collaboration with the European Space Agency, which provided the service module for Orion, a small Shaun the Sheep toy will also be a passenger to Artemis. The character is part of a children’s show from the “Wallace and Gromit” series.
The four Lego minifigures will also be featured in Orion as part of an ongoing partnership between NASA and the Lego Group, in hopes of engaging children and adults in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.
a space time capsule
A range of items honor the contributions of students and teachers, including space science badges from the Girl Scouts of America, digitized student visions of lunar exploration from the German Space Agency, and digital entries from the Artemis Moon Pod essay competition. Interest in STEM.
Various tree and plant seeds will be on board to pay homage to a similar tradition that began during the Apollo 14 mission. The seeds were then planted and became “Moon Trees” as part of an experiment to understand the effects of the space environment on seeds. NASA will share Artemis seeds with teachers and educational institutions when the capsule returns.
Several Apollo items are with you for the journey, including an Apollo 8 commemorative medallion, an Apollo 11 mission patch, a bolt from one of Apollo 11’s F-1 engines, and a small moonstone collected during Apollo 11 and also flying on the last space shuttle. Flight. The items were shared by the National Air and Space Museum, which will be featured in an exhibit upon their return.
Cultural artifacts will also be in flight. A 3D-printed replica of the Greek goddess Artemis will participate in space travel and will later be displayed at Greece’s Acropolis Museum. The European Space Agency has shared a postcard of Georges Méliès’ famous “Journey to the Moon” artwork for the flight kit.
And the Israel Space Agency donated a pebble from Earth’s lowest dry land surface, off the coast of the Dead Sea, to travel aboard Artemis 1, a flight that will go further than any human has ever gone before.