NASA Receives Award for Artemis I Team

NASA's Artemis I mission received an award from the IAA (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA - Artemis I, the opening mission for human exploration of the Moon and Mars, received the 2023 Team Achievement award from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

This award was handed out in early October during Academy Day, but the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) only shared this news on their official website some time ago.

According to the IAA, NASA's Artemis I mission has achieved extraordinary performance and achievements, both from the team of scientists, engineers, technicians and even managers in the field of astronautics.

As a representative of the Artemis I team, NASA Moon to Mars Program Deputy Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya took the award. The IAA  indicated directly that it recognizes and supports the launch of Artemis I.

“Together with this growing community, we are making scientific breakthroughs on the Moon and preparing humanity's next big leap to explore the Red Planet,” said Kshatriya in his official release.

NASA did not develop the Artemis I mission alone. This space agency also collaborates with several other agencies such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Italian Space Agency, the Israeli Space Agency, and the German Aerospace Center.

Kshatriya  said that there were thousands of workers on this mission, both for the development of the rocket, the spacecraft, and various support systems. He added, “Assembly and launch from Kennedy, circumnavigation of the Moon, and recovery safely from the Pacific Ocean, every contribution contributed to this achievement.”

Artemis is NASA's comeback mission or return to the Moon since the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Through the Artemis program series, NASA will send their first female astronaut to land on the Moon.

So far, NASA has planned three flight missions for Artemis. On Artemis I, NASA flew an unmanned Orion spacecraft to circle the Moon. This mission was launched in November last year and again in December of the same year.

Unlike Artemis I, the Artemis II mission will carry the crew on an Orion aircraft and a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This mission only lasts ten days and is planned to launch next month. With a short period of time, this mission only passed the moon.

Artemis III will be the culmination of the entire Artemis program. Planned to launch in 2025, Artemis III will carry a crew of four, one of whom is a woman, to land on the Moon. After successfully landing, the four of them will explore the area near the South Pole.