After years delayed and several false starts, the wait is over: NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule lifted off at 1:48 a.m. Eastern time, on their way to the moon’s famous flyby. Crowds of spectators looked on at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the impact of NASA’s rockets was heard at the same place where the shuttles and the Apollo missions began their journeys into space.
The 212-foot rocket, consisting of an orange stage and two solid-state rockets, rests on a mobile launcher, just as it did in the first test. As the boosters ignited, the rocket soared in a burst of flames, then quickly removed the launch platform, then began to climb into space, an orange ombre streak burning behind it. “Liftoff for Artemis 1,” said Derrol Nail, a NASA commentator. “We rise together, back to the moon and beyond.”
After the two-minute mark, the SLS boosters finished burning through their thrusters and crashed. About eight minutes after launch, the first rocket used up its fuel and separated, too. This left the unfinished Orion capsule still attached to the upper rocket and the service module, provided by the European Space Agency, which provides the spacecraft’s power and energy. Orion continued at a speed of more than 16,000 kilometers per hour, and a few minutes later, it sent its sun.
If the mission goes according to plan, after about two hours, the capsule will separate from the upper part of the SLS. As it lifts off, the upper stage will deploy—in groups—10 small spacecraft called CubeSats, sending them on short trips around the moon, Mars, and a near-Earth asteroid.
Meanwhile, Orion will fly, taking 10 days to reach the moon, where it will spend several weeks on a so-called “reverse orbit,” which balances the gravity of Earth and the moon and does not require much fuel. to save. As it orbits the moon, it will take pictures of the Earth and its satellites, including the “Earthrise” image taken during the Apollo 8 mission – and collect space data, so that scientists can learn more about the risks that could affect the health of astronauts. on long journeys beyond Earth’s protective atmosphere.
In late November, Orion will leave that orbit and travel 40,000 miles past the moon—far farther than any spacecraft has ever been—before slingshotting past Earth again in early December. Its 26-day journey will end when it will fall under parachutes in the waters of the Pacific Ocean about 50 kilometers from the coast of San Diego, probably on December 11.
The members of the Artemis mission team are excited that the moment has come, but also anxious about the first moon shot since the Apollo era. “I’m excited to launch the Artemis mission to return to the moon and start a new era that will represent the deepest exploration, and go to Mars one day. I’m so excited to see the rocket change from night to day tonight when it takes off. It’s going to be amazing,” said NASA astronaut Christina Koch, speaking earlier Tuesday. There will be many scientific, economic and other benefits to the Artemis program, he says, thanks to NASA’s global partnership with industry, and it will help inspire the next generation of space explorers.
