NASA heads back to lunar surface with launch of Artemis I
NASA has started an essential first step toward sending people back to the lunar surface, fifty years after the conclusion of the last Apollo moon mission. Before missions with humans on board, the Orion capsule and SLS rocket will be tested on the Artemis I trip.
In an unmanned test flight known as Artemis I, the agency launched its brand-new mega-rocket and spacecraft on a journey to the moon on Wednesday. At 1:48 a.m. ET, the massive rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the agency’s first female launch director, addressed the Artemis generation by saying, “[F]or the Artemis generation, this is for you.”
It was the eagerly anticipated launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which the agency describes as the “most powerful rocket in the world.” The Orion capsule, which is shaped like a gumdrop and will someday transport men to the moon, was perched atop the 322-foot-tall rocket.
After the launch, Blackwell-Thompson addressed her crew, saying them their efforts would serve as an example for future generations.
You deserve this opportunity, she said. “You deserve to be remembered in history.”
According to Blackwell-Thompson, the significant liftoff is the first step toward sending American astronauts back to the moon and subsequently to Mars.
You are involved in a first. They don’t happen very frequently; perhaps once in a career,” she remarked. But the initial launch of Artemis is something very unique that we are all a part of.
Before human-manned missions, the Orion capsule and SLS rocket will be tested during the 26-day Artemis I voyage. To research the circumstances throughout the flight and track radiation levels throughout the mission, the spacecraft is equipped with a set of mannequins.
Before returning to Earth, the Orion spacecraft will travel to the moon and spend a few weeks in orbit there. On December 11, the capsule is anticipated to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
After two previous attempts—one in late August and another in early September—were aborted due to a malfunctioning sensor and a string of hydrogen fuel leaks, the Artemis I mission was ultimately launched.
After delays, the launch of Artemis is now scheduled. Stormy weather also prevented the flight from taking off. In late September, the rocket was brought back to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building in advance of Hurricane Ian, which wreaked havoc on southwestern Florida. As Hurricane Nicole hit Florida’s east coast on November 10, making landfall more than 70 miles south of the launch pad, the agency was once again forced to reschedule the Artemis I launch last week.
Even though the countdown to liftoff was not without its drama, the massive SLS booster was able to go into orbit this time.
An intermittent leak of liquid hydrogen was discovered coming from a valve at the bottom of the launch pad just before 10 p.m. ET. Different leaks from the ones that compelled NASA to cancel the first two Artemis launch attempts occurred.
To tighten down the nuts on the valve, the agency decided to deploy a highly skilled “red team” of two experts to the launch pad. The work was carried out in the so-called blast danger region, near the mostly-fueled rocket, and was tightly supervised by safety specialists, according to agency officials.
Engineers were able to patch the leak and continue the fuelling operation and countdown despite being around 40 minutes behind schedule. The return-to-the-moon initiative of NASA is known as Artemis, after the goddess of Greek mythology who was Apollo’s identical twin. The agency might send people to the moon as early as 2025 if this test flight and others are successful.
As part of the Artemis programme, NASA intends to send routine missions to the moon to set up a base camp there before eventually travelling to Mars.
After working for more than a decade to create a new mega-rocket that is larger and more capable than the classic Saturn V rockets used during NASA’s Apollo lunar programme, which saw its final flight in 1972, the agency finally conducted the much-awaited Artemis I test flight. The project has received criticism over the years for running billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
NASA heads back to lunar surface with launch of Artemis I
NASA Inspector General Paul Martin estimated that the organisation will invest $93 billion in the Artemis programme between 2012 and 2025 during a hearing before the House Science Committee earlier this year. Martin further stated that the estimated price tag for each Artemis launch was $4.1 billion.
If the test flight for Artemis II is successful, it is anticipated that it will take place sometime in 2024. Four astronauts will travel to the moon on that mission in the Orion spacecraft. After that, according to NASA, the Artemis III mission will send a woman and a person of colour to the moon for the first time.
We are going.
For the first time, the @NASA_SLS rocket and @NASA_Orion fly together. #Artemis I begins a new chapter in human lunar exploration. pic.twitter.com/vmC64Qgft9
— NASA (@NASA) November 16, 2022
