NASA’s Space Launch System rolls out to the launch pad ahead of Artemis I mission set for August 29
The world’s most powerful rocket is standing on Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida after rolling out to the site for the third time.
The 322-foot-tall Super Launch System (SLS), topped with the Orion capsule, emerged from the hanger at 10pm ET Tuesday and finished the four-mile journey to the pad in 10 hours.
Artemis I is the first of the four phase moon program. This mission, which lasts six weeks, will see the uncrewed rocket and Orion capsule soar to the moon to test the technology before astronauts are launched in May 2024 – but Americans will not step foot on the lunar surface until at least 2025.
The mission has been plagued with delays over the past two and a half years, but NASA is hopeful that the third time’s the charm and the world will finally see the craft take off on August 29. The backup dates are September 2 and 5 in case this month does not go as planned.
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We are going to the moon: NASA’s Space Launch System is now standing tall on the launch pad ahead of the August 29 launch that will finally kickoff the Artemis program
The finale of the program, putting the first woman and person of color on the moon, is also much later than NASA had initially planned when it established the Artemis program more than a decade ago. The first date was set for 2023.
Artemis I was initially scheduled for November 2020, but NASA was unable to push forward in the beginning of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing the agency to work from home.
Then Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, keeping SLS grounded even longer. The rocket, however, was also plagued with mechanical and software issues.
The years of delays have added billions of dollars to the cost, but NASA likely sees the timeline as better late than never.
The rocket emerged from the hanger around 10 pm ET last night. This rocket will take the first woman and person of color to the moon by 2025
The rocket, topped with the Orion capsule, traveled four miles from the hanger to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida
SLS moon rocket is 41 feet shorter than the Saturn V rockets used during Apollo a half-century ago. But it’s more powerful, using a core stage and twin strap-on boosters, similar to the ones used for the space shuttles.
Its core stage is a vibrant orange that is surrounded by two white rocket boosters on each side – and one booster features the NASA worm logo.
The Orion capsule sits at the top, just below the Launch Abort System which is recognized by its pointy end.
The complete structure weighs 5.75 million pounds and measures taller than the Statue of Liberty.
The Orion spacecraft will travel to an orbit 40,000 miles beyond the moon, or 280,000 miles from Earth.
This mission will demonstrate the integrated system performance of SLS, Orion and Exploration Ground Systems prior to a crewed flight.
SLS moon rocket is 41 feet shorter than the Saturn V rockets used during Apollo a half-century ago. But it’s more powerful, using a core stage and twin strap-on boosters, similar to the ones used for the space shuttles
Artemis I is the first stage of the four-part program. The capsule will only include three mannequins that will let NASA test the technologies and how astronauts will be impacted when the launch inside during Artemis II that is set for 2024
Artemis I is referred to as a test bed. The rocket and capsule will launch from Florida and then embark on the journey astronauts will take in 2025. The capsule will soar around the moon before splashing back down on Earth. Artemis I will last for six weeks
This spacecraft, primarily built by Lockheed Martin, will stay in space ‘longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before,’ NASA has said previously.
If Artemis I is a success, then in 2024 NASA will send Artemis II on a trip around the moon, this time with a human crew on board.
The Artemis II mission plans to send four astronauts in the first crewed Orion capsule into a lunar flyby for a maximum of 21 days.
Both missions are tests flights to demonstrate the technology and abilities of Orion, SLS and the Artemis mission before NASA puts human boots back on the moon.
The Artemis mission will be the first to land humans on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 in 1972. With the first woman and first person of color expected to step foot on the surface at some point in 2025.
At an estimated $1 billion per launch, the space agency wants to ensure any issues or errors are picked up before the single-use rocket leaves the Earth.
NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission
Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.
NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 – including the first woman and the next man.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars.
Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the moon and beyond.
During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a three-week mission.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. This graphic explains the various stages of the mission
Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps of human exploration into deep space where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems near the moon needed for lunar surface missions and exploration to other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars.
The will take crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans aboard.
Together, Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will be able to meet the most challenging crew and cargo mission needs in deep space.
Eventually NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.
The space agency hopes this colony will uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advancements and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.
