![]() ![]() Her background is in geology and microbiology. ![]() But in the astronaut corps, everyone does everything, Cardman says. The goal of finding and using resources on the moon is part of why science backgrounds - especially in geology - have gained importance for astronauts. Those pockets hold water ice that future human settlements could use for water and fuel. The lunar south pole also has regions in permanent shadow. The light will help generate energy from solar power. The south pole has regions that will be in sunlight for the entire 6.5-day Artemis III mission. That could be a good place to put a long-term base. A lot of those desired skills revolve around acquiring resources to support long stays on the moon.Īrtemis III plans to send people to the lunar south pole as soon as 2025. “What we’re looking for in these first few Artemis missions … first and foremost, is technical expertise,” he said. Wiseman is the chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office in Houston, Texas. NASAĪstronaut Reid Wiseman offered more details in an August news briefing. ![]() The most recent class of NASA astronaut candidates is much more diverse than their Apollo predecessors. Their fields range from oceanography to physics. Rock.” And Cernan said he wasn’t sure if Schmitt would be able to get out of a tough spot on his own.īut according to NASA’s mission report, Apollo 17 was “the most productive and trouble-free manned mission.” It “demonstrated the practicality of training scientists to become qualified astronauts.” Today, 42 percent of NASA’s active astronauts have training in science or medicine. Cernan later referred to his Apollo 17 crewmate Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, as “Dr. “Science is not the reason we learned to fly,” he griped. In an interview, Cernan called science “a parasite” on the moon program. One naysayer was Eugene Cernan, who went to the moon on the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. NASA recruited its first class of “scientist-astronauts” in 1964. At the time, all military test pilots were white men - so, all astronauts were too. And they all had to be shorter than 5 feet, 11 inches to fit inside NASA’s space capsule. For its first class of astronauts in 1959, NASA recruited only military fighter pilots. Modern astronauts already differ from those in Apollo missions. The Apollo 17 mission to the moon included Harrison Schmitt (back left), Eugene Cernan (front) and Ronald Evans (back right). Future lunar crews also may reflect our lives on Earth more faithfully, making space for everyone. This progress doesn’t just broaden the pool of talent available for creating a more permanent human presence in space. Some groups are even thinking about how to include people with disabilities in spacefaring. NASA has declared that upcoming moon missions will include the first woman and the first person of color. Thanks to social, political and scientific changes over the last half century, the sex, race and fields of expertise of today’s astronauts are more diverse. Fortunately, NASA is now picking from a much wider array of candidates. Today’s mission goals will require 21st century astronauts to bring different knowledge, skills and temperaments than Apollo crews did. NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s sent 24 white men to the moon. Their work will pave the way to send the first people to Mars. ![]() NASA expects them to stay on the moon longer and learn how to live there. This generation of spacefarers will face new challenges. With the November 16, 2022, launch of Artemis I, NASA is finally preparing to send people back. Fifty years have passed since the last astronauts walked on the moon. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |