Spacecraft Thermal Control in Crewed Lunar Missions: A Review from Apollo to Artemis

Abstract

The global push for aviation decarbonization has elevated electric aircraft (EA) as a promising solution for short-On 20 July 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission achieved the historic first crewed landing on the moon, marking the dawn of human exploration beyond Earth. The Apollo program continued until 1972, dissolving an era of unprecedented scientific and engineering achievement in space exploration. Now, more than half a century later, humankind has once again accomplished the remarkable feat of journeying to the Moon and back, safely to Earth, rekindling global interest in lunar exploration. This review paper scrutinizes the spacecraft thermal control systems employed in the key crewed lunar mission vehicles, namely the Apollo Lunar Orbiter (Command Module), the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Artemis II Orion spacecraft. It further investigates the thermal challenges inherent to the lunar surface environment, presenting a comparative study of thermal control practices spanning from the pioneering Apollo missions to the futuristic designs of the Artemis program.