Artemis II Crew Reveals First Chaotic Hours in Space
▼ Summary
– The launch sequence begins with main engines igniting seven seconds before liftoff, followed by solid rocket boosters lighting, taking six and a half seconds to clear the tower.
– Two minutes into flight, the side-mounted boosters separate after reaching 3,100 mph and 30 miles altitude, with the commander and pilot monitoring systems while the flight is automated.
– After 8 minutes and 3 seconds, the core stage shuts down and the upper stage with Orion spacecraft separates, entering space with 40 minutes to prepare for the next maneuver.
– Astronauts Koch and Hansen must immediately begin post-launch tasks, including setting up life support systems like the toilet and water dispenser, with Hansen concerned about space motion sickness as a first-time flier.
– The Artemis II mission places the crew in an elliptical orbit reaching 1,200 nautical miles apogee, farther from Earth than anyone since Apollo, without an immediate upper stage burn.
The initial moments of the Artemis II mission promise an experience of raw power and intense focus for its four-person crew. Commander Reid Wiseman vividly describes the sequence: “About seven seconds before liftoff, the four main engines ignite, reaching full power. Then the solid rocket boosters fire, and that’s when you truly begin to move. It’s astonishing to realize that it takes six and a half seconds just for the five-million-pound vehicle to clear the tower. As a human being, I can’t wait to feel that immense force.”
Just over two minutes into the flight, the powerful side-mounted boosters will separate. By this point, they will have done the heavy lifting, propelling the rocket to a staggering velocity of 3,100 mph and an altitude of 30 miles. While mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will be passengers for this phase, Commander Wiseman and Pilot Victor Glover will be actively monitoring the systems. The launch is fully automated, but they stand ready to intervene if necessary.
“Victor and I have a substantial workload,” Wiseman notes. “We are responsible for monitoring numerous systems. We are hopeful everything proceeds perfectly, but we are extensively trained for any contingency.”
At the eight-minute and three-second mark, the rocket’s core stage will shut down. Roughly ten seconds later, the upper stage and the Orion spacecraft will separate, officially placing the crew in space. They will then have approximately 40 minutes to prepare for their next critical maneuver.
Once in orbit, the pace does not slow. “The most unusual aspect of this mission,” Koch explains, “is that immediately after the main engine cuts off, the first thing Jeremy and I do is get up and start working. I cannot recall another mission, at least in recent memory, where the crew is required to be physically active and setting up equipment so quickly after reaching orbit.”
Koch, Wiseman, and Glover are all veterans of spaceflight, having previously traveled on either SpaceX’s Dragon or Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft and lived aboard the International Space Station. They understand how their bodies will react to weightlessness. However, nearly half of all astronauts experience space adaptation syndrome, a form of motion sickness, on their first flight. This is a significant concern for Jeremy Hansen, the sole rookie on this journey, who is expected to immediately leave his seat and begin his duties.
“I am definitely concerned about space motion sickness,” Hansen admits. “My strategy is to be very deliberate. I will avoid moving my head excessively. Obviously, I will have to get up and move, so I will be extremely mindful during those first few hours. Another key difference from a Space Station mission is that I have everything memorized for the initial tasks. This means I won’t have to constantly look down at a tablet to read procedures and then look back up, which can worsen nausea.”
Koch and Hansen have the critical job of setting up and testing the spacecraft’s essential life support systems. As Hansen pragmatically puts it, “If the bathroom doesn’t work, we’re not going to the Moon.”
He elaborates on their division of labor: “We split the vehicle by side. Christina is responsible for the side with the toilet; she handles all of that. I’m on the side with the water dispenser. Mission control needs to know if we can dispense water. It’s not a highly complex system. We just need to retrieve the components from storage and connect them. I’ll also be retrieving camera equipment and setting up the masks we would use in case of a fire to purge smoke. It’s a series of small, vital jobs.”
In a departure from conventional rocket missions, the Artemis II vehicle’s upper stage, called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, will not ignite immediately. After separating from the core stage, Orion will enter an elliptical orbit that will carry it to an apogee of 1,200 nautical miles, nearly five times higher than the International Space Station. At this point, the crew will find themselves farther from Earth than any human has traveled since the end of the Apollo program.
(Source: Ars Technica)
