A British engineering firm has played a key role in the first manned moon venture in half a century.
John Crane, which established its headquarters in Slough, Berkshire in 1923, has developed and produced specialist components destined for Nasa’s upcoming Artemis II mission.
The 10-day mission, due to launch no earlier than February 8, will mark humanity’s first trip to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The company has manufactured 32 filtration sieves, which are designed to keep propellant tanks required to manoeuvre the spacecraft free of gas bubbles.
These devices, measuring at about 15cm wide, combine titanium construction with a steel mesh material engineered to exacting standard.
Jeroen Huizinga, a senior director at John Crane, told The Times: “It’s exciting to [play] a tiny part in this kind of a mission.
“It’s just a tiny part, it looks very simple and very small, but it is going up to the moon.”
It marks the second time the company’s filtration sieves have travelled to the moon, having done so on Nasa’s uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022.
John Crane has developed and produced specialist components destined for Nasa’s upcoming Artemis II mission
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Mr Huizinga said staff at John Crane were “absolutely excited” to be a part of the latest mission.
Nasa is set to carry out a “wet dress rehearsal” for the mission in Florida today.
This involves carrying out a fueling test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The rocket stands at nearly 98 meters tall, about two metres higher than Big Ben.
The mission is expected to launch no later than February 8
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Nasa said the mission will “carry astronauts farther from Earth and closer to the Moon than any human has been in over half a century”.
“From this unique vantage point and environment, the Artemis II crew will work with scientists on Earth to facilitate science investigations to inform future human spaceflight missions,” the American space agency said.
The mission’s crew includes three US astronauts and a Canadian astronaut.
Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month, Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman said: “We truly look at that and see teamwork, we see global cooperation, we see a strong nation leading the way.”
