The first lunar commander in 50 years grinned as images of jets and lunar rockets flashed on the screen in front of him. “That was a fun day.”
NASA astronaut Reed Wiseman yes commander artemis 2whose goal is to allow four people to fly moon Around 2024.However, in an exclusive interview with Space.com on December 18th, we talked about drones via Zoom Artemis 1 The mission launched in late 2022 and successfully tested most Orion spacecraft and space launch system (SLS) rocket system ready for Wiseman’s crew. Hence the picture of the jet.
On August 23, 2022, Wiseman and a small group of astronauts flew the famous T-38 jet trainer aircraft over the Artemis 1 SLS on the launch pad.No one knew it at the time, but three of Artemis 2’s four crew members were in distress formation: Wiseman, NASA mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission expert Jeremy Hanson. (The only one absent is the NASA pilot Victor Glover, he was performing other tasks at the time. )
“That photo evoked a lot of emotions. Most of them were positive,” Wiseman joked. It took months to get permission and time for the iconic flyby, he recalled.
related: NASA astronauts pilot Artemis 1 SLS rocket for incredible jet flyby (photos)
In 2022, Wiseman will serve as the director of the Astronaut Office, responsible for all NASA astronaut space missions. (He resigned in November 2022 and became eligible for active duty again, just in time to Artemis 2 Big Announcement April 3, 2023. )
Wiseman tells Space.com he’ll be walking the halls of NASA johnson space center, the headquarters of the Astronaut Office.He would look at pictures of those people international space station and space shuttle on the wall. But for Artemis, it’s a completely new plan, aiming to follow in humanity’s footsteps by landing humans on the moon in the 2020s. Apollo program The 1960s and 1970s? “We don’t really have any photos that hit home.”
Artemis 1 First launched on NASA’s Pad 39B Kennedy Space Center (KSC) begins months of testing on March 17, 2022 (and The journey back and forth is infrequent to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building). Wiseman said the astronaut office had a strong reaction to Artemis 1 sitting on the launch pad for the first time: “A lot of us said, ‘We have to fly by that vehicle.'”
read more: What 8,000 hours of military aircraft flight taught 2 Canadian astronauts
Of course, formation flying is definitely exciting, and the practice time is useful for astronauts (who need to maintain flying proficiency to get the job done). But Wiseman also saw a public relations opportunity: “We have to remind people that there are people involved, we fly the planes, we own the spacecraft. This is a critical moment for NASA.”
Wiseman and his naval aviator and astronaut Matthew Dominic (now Commander of the Navy) Space Exploration Technologies Corporation Crew-8 mission) held multiple meetings to plan the program. “He didn’t even end up in the picture,” Wiseman lamented to Dominique after all the work was done.
“It took him months to get through all the security gates,” Wiseman continued, laughing. “There were a lot of clearances to fly over national assets on the launch pad. But ultimately, we decided we had to go for it and give it a try.”
A total of five T-38s participated in the flyby: four in the image, with eight people inside, and one outside the frame, flown by NASA photographer Josh Valcarcel and experienced Chase pilot and NASA astronaut candidate Piloted by Jack Hathaway.This group lives in NASA crew quarters Kennedy Space Center Get ready for the big day the night before.
read more: One year after the launch of Artemis 1, NASA prepares Artemis 2 for another lunar landing (Video)
Wiseman is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and a former test pilot whose programs included the F-35 Lightning II and F-18 weapons separation. He has also deployed to the Middle East twice and has thousands of hours of combat aircraft experience, not to mention 165 days in space. Still, Wiseman found a surprise as he flew over the tarmac.
“We woke up the next day and flew out to complete the mission,” Wiseman recalled. “I had forgotten how tiring it is to fly in close formation. At the end of the short 45-minute flight, we were all very tired. But it was a great experience.”
Wiseman said the flyby had many personal touchstones. He flew with two members of the Artemis 2 crew. He flew with NASA pilot Chris Condon, whom Wiseman has known since 1999.In addition, the team flew training aircraft with Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969, the first man to walk on the moon. On top of that, a lunar rocket designed to carry passengers was seen on the launch pad that was once used for Apollo and space shuttle launches.
“The whole event was just a big moment looking toward the future of Artemis on the historic launch pad,” Wiseman said. “There were so many emotions that day.”
#Whats #fly #Artemis #SLS #moon #rocket #supersonic #jet #NASAs #Artemis #Commander #Tells #Video
Image Source : www.space.com