NASA’s Artemis 1 test flight dummy will not be alone during its flight to the Moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that the sheep mascot Shaun will also participate in the unmanned mission. This beloved character brought to life by Aardman will technically be the first ESA astronaut to join the Artemis program.
“This is an exciting development for Shaun and ESA,” says David Parker, ESA Director of Human and Robotics Discovery. While this is one small step for a man, it will be a giant leap for a sheep.”
After the successful refueling test of the new generation SLS rocket, NASA announced that Artemis 1 can be launched on August 23. Alongside the agency’s Orion spacecraft, the mission will send Shaun and model Commander Moonikin Campos to the Moon.
If all goes according to plan, the capsule will return to Earth after spending 39 to 42 days in space. The spacecraft will orbit the satellite using lunar gravity to gain speed and move forward, and during this rotation it will come 70,000 kilometers behind the Moon. At this time it will be almost half a million kilometers from Earth. This point will be the furthest any human – or sheep – has ever traveled in space.
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