Artemis 1: 10 strange things flying to the moon on NASA's Orion spacecraft - Space.com

(Image credit: ESA)

A caller opening astatine the moon

NASA's archetypal ngo of its caller quality satellite programme has a boatload of unusual and intriguing passengers connected board, which volition behaviour a wide scope of absorbing subject work.

Artemis 1, the archetypal formation of the Artemis program, launched connected Nov. 16, 2022, sending  an Orion spacecraft toward the satellite atop a Space Launch System rocket. Artemis 1 is uncrewed, but that doesn't mean Orion is empty. From yeast cells to a Snoopy plush doll to Amazon's Alexa, present are immoderate of the strangest things connected committee the Artemis 1 mission.

sign saying callisto supra nasa controllers

(Image credit: NASA)

Amazon's Alexa, a.k.a. Callisto

Amazon's famed virtual adjunct present has acquisition tasking successful space. Alexa has been successful powerfulness for much than a decennary connected Earth, controlling galore types of devices, specified arsenic speakers, phones and location appliances. And a exertion objection connected Artemis 1 called Callisto is based connected Alexa's prowess.

Callisto was built to see Cisco's Webex video conferencing software, integrating dependable technology, video and artificial quality connected committee the Orion spacecraft, which was built for NASA by Lockheed Martin. The tech "could beryllium utilized successful the aboriginal to alteration astronauts to beryllium much self-reliant arsenic they research heavy space," Lisa Callahan, vice president and wide manager of commercialized civilian abstraction for Lockheed Martin, said successful a 2022 statement (opens successful caller tab) exploring the applications.

(Image credit: NASA)

Snoopy

In a throwback to the famed Apollo program, NASA officials are letting a precise peculiar canine out. Snoopy, a prima of the Peanuts comic strips that ran from 1950 to 2000, is the zero-G indicator for the Orion spacecraft. The beagle famously landed connected the satellite successful a bid of comic strips successful 1969, and the Apollo 10 lunar module was named Snoopy successful his honor.

The Artemis 1 Snoopy is spacesuited, wearing a replica of the aforesaid unit suit NASA has for its Artemis astronauts. His relation with NASA dates backmost to 1968, erstwhile bureau officials asked Peanuts creator Charles Schulz to usage the dog's representation arsenic a safety mascot (opens successful caller tab). NASA introduced the Silver Snoopy grant that twelvemonth to grant workforce members who made important strides successful ngo information and occurrence successful quality spaceflight.

(Image credit: Lego)

Four LEGO minifigures

Four LEGO minifigures are riding aboard Orion, cosplaying NASA astronauts, with a unit of six LEGO crushed controllers supporting the radical successful space. The quartet includes characters "Kate" and "Kyle" from LEGO Education's SPIKE Prime system, arsenic good arsenic "Julia" and "Sebastian" from the LEGO City artifact line. 

All 4 figurines are featured successful the "Build to Launch: A STEAM Exploration Series (opens successful caller tab)", which includes 10 weeks of integer contented astir abstraction and subject connected the LEGO Education website (opens successful caller tab). Parents, educators and students tin usage the minifigures to larn much astir STEAM (science, technology, engineering, creation and mathematics.)

(Image credit: European Space Agency)

Shaun the Sheep

In what has been dubbed a "giant leap for lambkind", Shaun the Sheep is flying good beyond the borders of Shropshire for his eponymous kids' amusement successful the United Kingdom. Shaun's travel was documented successful a bid of European Space Agency (ESA) blog posts (opens successful caller tab), including 1 that showed the ovine "training" connected a parabolic aircraft.

Shaun, sporting an ESA formation suit, made it to abstraction for the 15th day of his archetypal tv bid successful 2007, though his archetypal quality wide was successful 1995 successful the abbreviated movie "A Close Shave." The TV bid has been seen successful 180 countries. Shaun besides stars successful 2 feature-length films, the latest successful 2019 featuring a visitant from outer abstraction successful "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon."

(Image credit: NASA)

Two manikins and a 'moonikin'

A famed Apollo 13 engineer's sanction is returning his lunar mission's tone of can-do to the moon. NASA opened a naming contention for a "moonikin" (a manikin bound for the moon, laden with 2 radiation sensors). The winning introduction was Arturo Campos, aft an technologist cardinal to solving the occupation of bringing 3 radical location safely from the satellite aft a bid of captious problems beset Apollo 13 successful heavy space.

Joining Campos are Helga and Zohar, 2 manikin torsos from the German abstraction bureau (known by its German acronym DLR). Each of the DLR brace is fitted with 5,600 sensors to measurement radiation, and Zohar volition deterioration an AstroRad radiation extortion vest.

The 3 simulated astronauts volition amusement however overmuch hazard to astronauts comes from moving extracurricular the Van Allen radiation belts that shield Earth's little orbits from radiation. Astronauts are much susceptible to cosmic rays from heavy abstraction erstwhile they scope into precocious Earth orbit and beyond, but the hazard is inactive being quantified.

(Image credit: NASA)

Yeast cells

Living organisms from Earth were tasked with the deepest abstraction travel yet aboard a cubesat called Biosentinel, which is portion of the Artemis 1 manifest. (Biosentinel didn't thrust aboard Orion; it and 9 different cubesats were packed into the SLS precocious stage.) The effect of space radiation connected yeast cells volition beryllium quantified successful the cubesat's orbit astir the sun, which volition beryllium beauteous adjacent to that of Earth. 

Yeast cells, similar quality cells, carry familial information successful treble strands of DNA. The cells are frankincense a exemplary organism to amended recognize however radiation affects humans exposed to akin conditions.

"We anticipation that we tin extrapolate our assets to quality biology and pass imaginable countermeasures for aboriginal missions," pb idiosyncratic Sergio Santa Maria, of NASA's Ames Research Center, said of BioSentinel in August 2022.

(Image credit: Morehead State University)

A h2o hunter

NASA is connected the hunt for h2o supplies to support astronauts going connected the lunar surface, which is wherever Lunar IceCube comes in. The cubesat is designed to look for h2o and different imaginable resources connected the moon, to trim the magnitude of worldly astronauts request to vessel from Earth (and prevention connected outgo and complication.)

Its cardinal instrumentality is susceptible of seeking crystal and wisps of exospheric (trace atmosphere) h2o vapor. The Lunar IceCube squad — led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Morehead State University and the Busek Company — accidental the small cubesat volition representation resources for aboriginal explorers to consult.

(Image credit: JAXA)

A tiny satellite lander

A tiny nanolander is the lone portion the Artemis 1 manifest tasked with deliberately alighting connected the moon's surface. It's a tiny spacecraft, astatine conscionable 2.2 pounds (1 kilograms), and is designed to alert toward the satellite aft detaching from a cubesat successful lunar orbit. 

Called the Outstanding Moon exploration Technologies demonstrated by Nano Semi-Hard Impactor (OMOTENASHI), the landing tech leverages acquisition gained by its maker, the Japanese Aeroscape Exploration Agency (JAXA). On the Hayabusa2 mission, JAXA successfully deployed a bid of landers connected the asteroid Ryugu, which has little gravity than the satellite but akin dusty conditions.

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A star sailing asteroid hunter

Another cubesat, NEA (Near-Earth Asteroid) Scout volition usage a solar sail  to question to a target asteroid. During its astir two-year mission, NEA Scout volition representation the asteroid with NEACam, a 20-megapixel representation sensor, to larn much astir the asteroid's rotation, shape, particulate and presumption successful space.

The representation information volition assistance aboriginal asteroid missions with landing and whitethorn besides archer scientists much astir however these abstraction rocks formed and evolved. Learning much astir asteroids is adjuvant arsenic they correspond the leftover gathering blocks of the star strategy successful its aboriginal history, immoderate 4.5 cardinal years agone earlier Earth and different planets formed.

(Image credit: JAXA/University of Tokyo)

A water-propelled spacecraft

The EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth constituent 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS), different JAXA introduction with assistance from the University of Tokyo, is designed to research radiation successful an orbit betwixt the Earth and the moon. The cubesat has a caller h2o propulsion strategy that allows it to minimize accepted substance usage.

Mission managers are collecting information connected the plasmasphere, which is the interior portion of the magnetosphere. This portion has "cool" plasma, which refers to state with atoms stripped of electrons. It's a perchance utile radiation experimentation and whitethorn besides assistance with readying low-energy lunar flybys connected aboriginal missions.