Amateur radio operators and more will track NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission

The international network of amateur radio operators will be watching the launch of NASA's new moon exploration vehicle.

NASA officials announced that a network of 18 volunteers, organizations and space agencies will assist with tracking Artemis 1 which will send an uncrewed capsule to the moon. The launch is scheduled to take place on November 14.

NASA officials said in a statement (opens in new tab) that the selected volunteers, including two individuals in the amateur radio community, would use their respective ground antennas to passively track and measure changes in the radio waves transmitted by Orion.

The journey to the moon is one of three distinct phases of the 25 day mission.

Photos explain NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission.

The requests for information were released in August. The data the participants pick up will be sent to the space communications and navigation program. NASA wants to improve tracking information for future deep space missions. NASA will be gathering its own data on the project.

Dozens of calls from antenna owners and operators around the world asked how they could get involved. John said in the statement. Our answer was to show us what you can do to support human space exploration.

Government space agencies are participating.

• Canadian Space Agency, Canada
• Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France
• German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), Germany
• Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Republic of Korea
• National Space Centre, Elfordstown Earthstation, Ireland

The companies that are included are commercial.

• Clearbox Systems Pty Ltd., Australia
• Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd., United Kingdom
• Intuitive Machines, U.S.
• Kongsberg Satellite Services (U.S. office)
• Leaf Space LLC, U.S.
• Swedish Space Corporation (U.S. office)
• Telespazio, Italy
• Vambrace Inc., U.S.
• Viasat, U.S.

There are other volunteer groups.

• Non-profit: CAMRAS, Netherlands
• Academic institutions: Space Systems Design Laboratory, Georgia Tech Research Institute, U.S.
• Private citizens: Scott Chapman, U.S. and Scott Tilley, Canada

The co-author of Why Am I Taller is Elizabeth Howell. A book about space medicine is in the works. Follow us on social media, like us on Facebook (opens in new tab)