Artemis, here’s what Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space and Argotec will do for NASA’s first mission to the Moon
Italian industry aboard NASA's first mission to the Moon. Argomoon, the cubesat made by Turin-based Argotec, is the only European satellite that will go into lunar orbit with Artemis 1 tomorrow 29 August
The cubesat Argomoon will be the first object made in Italy to fly to the moon in NASA's Artemis 1 mission.
Made by the Turin-based Argotec, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) indicates that Cubesat Argomoon is the only European satellite that will go into lunar orbit tomorrow 29 August . When in Italy it will be 14:33, at the Kennedy space center, in Florida, the gigantic SLS vector will take off for the Artemis 1 mission that will carry the Orion capsule, without men on board, around the Moon.
And there is a lot of Made in Italy in the new era of NASA lunar missions, with ESA partner – recalls ASI – which underlines how our country has "a leading role with the Italian space sector led by the Italian Space Agency" .
The involvement of the industry starts with Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space who have created some components of the European service module Esm (European Service Module) of Orion, produced on behalf of the European Space Agency.
Thus begins Artemis, for the landing of the first woman and the next man on the moon. And we already look beyond: next stage Mars.
All the details.
ARGOMOON FLYING IN THE ARTEMIS MISSION 1
Italy, with the contribution of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), plays a role of primary importance in the Artemis program, in its developments for the permanence of man on the Moon and in his next journey to Mars.
ArgoMoon is a cubesat that about 14 kilos, conceived and built on commission of ASI by the Argotec company of Turin, will be launched with Artemis 1. The task of ArgoMoon will be to provide NASA with significant images confirming the correct execution of the operations of the SLS carrier, which at the time of the release of the CubeSats will not be able to send signals to Earth. ArgoMoon will perform the pointing operations through the use of autonomous navigation software specially developed by Argotec for this mission. After about 6 months, ArgoMoon will complete its mission by performing orbital maneuvers that will bring the cubesat into a stable orbit around the sun. Another all-Italian purpose will be to validate technologies for applications on nanosatellites and in particular on telecommunication and attitude and orbital control systems in deep space, as well as the resistance of components and units to the radiation typical of these environments, explains ASI.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF LEONARDO AND THALES ALENIA SPACE
On an industrial level, thanks to Leonardo and the joint ventures Thales Alenia Space (67% Thales, 33% Leonardo) and Telespazio (67% Leonardo, 33% Thales), a series of distinctive skills are made available in the field of infrastructures, robotics, artificial intelligence and connectivity, as well as services and operations that will be of strategic importance for Artemis. A contribution that is distributed among the different elements of the program.
Thales Alenia Space provides numerous technologies for Orion, the spacecraft that will take astronauts to lunar orbit: Tas contributes, a note reads, to the European Service Module (ESM), developed for ESA.
The joint venture led by Massimo Comparini is developing the critical subsystems for all 6 modules, providing Airbus Defense and Space, first contractor of Orion's ESM, with the structure, thermal control and main life support capabilities.
Leonardo will supply photovoltaic panels (PVAs) and power control and distribution units (PCDUs) for ESM modules 1 to 6.
ALSO ITALIAN SMEs INVOLVED
In addition, "among the SMEs involved, Dtm Technologies, which supplies the plates for cooling the components, CrioTec for the valves that regulate the oxygen and nitrogen supply to ensure breathable air, Alfa Meccanica, which produced the water tanks of the European module, Aviotec for the spinne of the spacecraft ”recalls Il Sole 24 Ore .
LUNAR GATEWAY
But the Italian industry is also working for the Lunar Gateway, the space station that will orbit the Moon and that will offer an important point of support for new explorers. The Gateway will consist of several pressurized modules, where astronauts will be able to live and conduct their activities. Thales Alenia Space in Turin creates: I-HAB, an international housing module; ESPRIT, communication and refueling module; and finally the primary structure of HALO, the housing and logistics module.
TELESPAZIO ENGAGED IN THE MOONLIGHT STUDIO
Finally, Tespazio, at the helm of an international consortium, was selected by ESA for the study of an infrastructure for communications and lunar navigation. The project is part of the Lunar Communications and Navigation Services (LCNS) initiative of the Moonlight program and, among the requirements, will analyze the possibility of making the system interoperable with LUNANET, the infrastructure that NASA is developing to support the Artemis program.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/artemis-cosa-faranno-leonardo-thales-alenia-space-e-argotec-per-la-prima-missione-sulla-luna-della-nasa/ on Sun, 28 Aug 2022 05:50:06 +0000.