After two failed attempts, NASA has launched its Moon-bound megarocket the Space Launch System, which will fly past the far side of the Moon and return. – more than any other passenger aircraft to date.
The Artemis 1 mission is the first step in NASA’s plan to return to the Moon for the first time in 50 years, and then to Mars in the 2030s.
We are going.
For the first time, a @NASA_SLS rocket is @NASA_Orion fly together. #Artemis I start a new chapter on human moon research. pic.twitter.com/vmC64Qgft9
— NASA (@NASA) November 16, 2022
The rocket was launched at 0648 UTC on Wednesday 16 November 2022 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
By 0657 UTC NASA announced that the SLS rocket had reached engine burnout in the mission timeline. The RS-25’s engines had shut down and the base unit had separated.
The next step is to deploy solar arrays to keep the rocket powered by the Sun.
The test flight is inactive and will travel 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) past the far side of the Moon.
The mission will take 25 days, 11 hours and 36 minutes. The Space Launch System (SLS) will begin its return to Earth on December 11, 2022 after traveling a distance of 2.09 million kilometers (1.3 million miles).
This is the first of a growing number of missions designed to bring humans to the Moon for the first time since December 1972.
The new SLS in service is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched, and it’s not just going to the Moon – it’s going beyond. than any man-made spaceship that has ever flown – and also send small satellites.
Inside the Orion Crew Capsule will be an unusual mix of mannequins, artifacts, mementos, and zero-gravity symbols.
Its purpose is to test the use of the vessel and test its condition to ensure that the vessel is safe for future crews.
In 2024, NASA plans to launch Artemis 2, the first mission of Artemis in space using the high-powered Space Launch System rocket (assuming the spacesuits are ready).
Artemis 3 is scheduled for 2025, and will aim to land the first woman and the first human on the southern side of the Moon.
In 2027, the Artemis 4 mission will take astronauts to a lunar station called Gateway.
