Photo: ESA
The first mission of the Artemis program may be an uncrewed one, but a motley collection of inanimate astronauts is being put together by the two major space agencies taking part, NASA and ESA.
A little more than a year ago, NASA revealed that Artemis I would carry with it a special dummy, meant to play the role of a human astronaut and see how a real human would experience flight inside the Orion.
The dummy is called Arturo Campos, after one of the people that were pivotal in saving the crew of Apollo 13 during their adventurous trip to the Moon and back. Campos is accompanied in space by two model human torsos, one male and one female, and named Zohar and Helga. These two will be used to provide data on radiation levels during missions to the Moon.
The trio will be accompanied in turn by a Snoopy doll, which was included in the flight as a nod to the long-lived participation of the character in America’s space exploration program. Snoopy will have a role in the mission as well, acting as a low-tech zero gravity indicator, meaning that when Orion reaches space, it will float.
This week, the European space agency revealed the name of its first astronaut thingy to join this Artemis crew: Shaun the Sheep. Its role on the mission was not detailed (probably also a zero-G indicator), but we were told the doll has some previous experience, unlike the others, as it has flown on the special Airbus A310 zero-G aircraft.
The Europeans have also set up a special blog to detail Shaun’s journey to the Moon, among other things, and you can visit it from time to time here.
Artemis I is scheduled for departure to the Moon on August 29 at 8.33 a.m. EDT for a 42-day mission into space.
The dummy is called Arturo Campos, after one of the people that were pivotal in saving the crew of Apollo 13 during their adventurous trip to the Moon and back. Campos is accompanied in space by two model human torsos, one male and one female, and named Zohar and Helga. These two will be used to provide data on radiation levels during missions to the Moon.
The trio will be accompanied in turn by a Snoopy doll, which was included in the flight as a nod to the long-lived participation of the character in America’s space exploration program. Snoopy will have a role in the mission as well, acting as a low-tech zero gravity indicator, meaning that when Orion reaches space, it will float.
This week, the European space agency revealed the name of its first astronaut thingy to join this Artemis crew: Shaun the Sheep. Its role on the mission was not detailed (probably also a zero-G indicator), but we were told the doll has some previous experience, unlike the others, as it has flown on the special Airbus A310 zero-G aircraft.
The Europeans have also set up a special blog to detail Shaun’s journey to the Moon, among other things, and you can visit it from time to time here.
Artemis I is scheduled for departure to the Moon on August 29 at 8.33 a.m. EDT for a 42-day mission into space.
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