By akademiotoelektronik, 16/05/2022

NASA joins the US Navy and tests a beacon for the Artemis program

The American space agency Nasa has joined forces with the US Navy to test the signaling technologies to be installed on the Orion capsule, for the Artemis-1 unmanned mission: the objective is for the spacecraft to have a type of lighthouse that will simplify his identification after his return from his trip to the Moon, facilitating his recovery.

The test, conducted by NASA's Office of Search and Rescue (SAR), will evaluate a number of capsule rescue procedures and is considered an essential part of the mission. Namely: the launch of the Artemis-1 mission is the "test flight" of the Artemis project, and will serve to prove the viability of future missions to be flown by astronauts who, with luck, will bring humans back to the Moon in mid-2025.

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The system is called “Cospas-Sarsat” and consists of technology that is the result of international efforts by rescue teams to find lost satellites that have descended from the atmosphere into our oceans and hard-to-reach lands. Originally founded in 1979, the program is consulted by NASA for technical improvements.

Going into "technical", Cospas-Sarsat uses a protected frequency of 406 MHz, where installed repeaters work with GPS signals and other geolocation-based systems to "hear" these signal beacons, determining the location of the object to be collected.

“NASA's search and rescue initiatives have paved the way for emergency responders around the world to develop technologies to search for people in the air, on land and at sea,” said JJ Miller, director of the agency's US Scan and Navigation (SCaN) program. “It is only natural that NASA should also enhance these services to also meet our main efforts in human exploration missions. »

In the case of Artemis-1, the idea is for the astronauts to remain inside the Orion capsule until rescue forces appear to retrieve them. In addition to the headlamps installed on the nacelle, the travelers' life jackets will also be equipped with locating systems (called "ANGEL" or "Next Generation Emergency Locator").

"Artemis program missions will utilize our latest technologies, paving the way for better enhancements to be created for future users," said Lisa Mazzuca, SAR's administrative director. "These innovations benefit from upgrades to the space segment of the Cospas-Sarsat system."

Although the scheduled tests are designed specifically for the Artemis missions, NASA advises that the Cospas-Sarsat technologies will be available for purchase on a commercial basis, targeting emergency response entities and other authorities of civil protection.

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