Artemis II Completes its Mission
The rocket blasted into the sky with two columns of fire pushing it. 10…9…8…7…6 the count down in the broadcast said in a deep and mechanical voice. Thousands of excited spectators exclaimed and hugged along Cocoa Beach, watching the rocket blast into the sky.
Recently, in Florida, a towering orange-and-white NASA rocket blasted off on the evening with four astronauts: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. These elite astronauts were representing America landing back on the moon.
According to NASA, this rocket and the members had traveled more than 695,081 miles away on the journey. The spacecraft passed within 4070 miles of the lunar surface during its closest approach and had reached a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth: 4105 miles farther than what Apollo 13 had traveled. This extra 4105 miles was a significant improvement and development since Apollo 13.
On board, they drank 10 different beverages like coffee and smoothies, and ate other foods like tortillas, nuts, barbecue beef brisket, cauliflower, macaroni and cheese, butternut squash, cookies, and chocolate. After the mission, Artemis II crew landed at the location down off to the coast of San Diego at 8:07pm on April 10.
After they got back to Earth, the doctors immediately started to examine their bodies at once. BBC reported that the highly-trained astronauts staying in space without a tug of gravity causes muscle and bone mass to shrink; the most affected muscles are those that help to maintain posture in the back, neck, and claves.
A former UK astronaut, Tim Peake, said, “It will feel to begin with like a small push in your back but it will gradually build up. Anybody who has been on a rollercoaster ride, you may have experienced 4G but probably for less than a second, so when you feel it for minutes at a time it’s quite punishing.”
This mission of Artemis II is tremendous proof of how we have developed and improved in space traveling. However, the effects on the muscles of the astronauts are still concerning.