NASA’s Artemis program marks an ambitious effort to return humans to the moon, significantly aided by rocket engines manufactured in Washington state.
“If we didn’t make these engines, then there wouldn’t be any sort of orbital maneuvering system, there wouldn’t be a way for the crew module to come back to Earth safely. It’s really important to us that we make engines that we know are going to work well and work right,” stated Kathryn Luczek, the Deputy Program Manager for L3Harris Orion.
Each of the initial three Artemis missions will rely on 32 rocket engines produced at the L3Harris facility located in Redmond, a fact underscored by a recent visit from NASA representatives.
“There is so much to do on the moon. We’re going there for science. There are scientific discoveries to be made. The Apollo missions only went to the equatorial regions. Imagine if you visited earth, but only went to the equator. There is so much more to see on the moon,” remarked NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg.
The upcoming mission, scheduled for no later than April 2024, will mark the first time humans travel around the moon since 1972.
“There’s a lot of harsh realities associated with being in space that you have to deal with, radiation being one of them, and you are multiple days away from Earth. Unlike in low Earth orbit, you have to bring systems in terms of redundancy and consumables with you,” explained Howard Hu, Orion Program Manager.
The third mission aims to successfully land astronauts on the moon, a crucial step toward NASA’s long-term objectives.
“There is a lot of scientific discovery to do. We want to set up moon bases, do all the things,” Hoburg added.
