(CNN) — The mission Artemis I took flight in the early hours of this Wednesday following months of anticipation. The historic event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the Moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.
The towering 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) Space Launch System rocket ignited its engines at 1:47 am Miami time. It gave off up to 9 million pounds (4.1 million kilograms) of thrust to roll off the launch pad in Florida and soar into the air, streaking vibrantly through the night sky.
On top of the rocket is the Orion spacecraft, a candy-shaped capsule that will separate following reaching space. Orion is designed to carry humans, but its passengers for this test mission are of the inanimate variety, including some dummies that collect vital data to aid future live crews.
In just a few minutes, as the SLS expends its millions of pounds of fuel, parts of the rocket will start to break off until Orion is left with a single large engine. That engine will emit two powerful burns over the next hour and a half to put the spacecraft on the correct trajectory to the Moon. Then, regarding two hours following liftoff, the rocket motor will also fall out, allowing Orion to fly freely for the rest of its journey.
Orion is expected to travel approximately 1.3 billion miles (2 million kilometers), taking a path that will take it farther than any other spacecraft designed for human flight has traveled, according to NASA. After orbiting the Moon, Orion will make its return trip, completing its journey in regarding 25.5 days. The capsule is then scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on December 11, when recovery teams will be waiting nearby to transport it to safety.
Throughout the mission, NASA engineers will closely monitor the spacecraft’s performance. The team will assess whether Orion is performing as planned and whether it will be ready to support its first crewed mission to lunar orbit, which is currently scheduled for 2024.
This mission also marks the debut flight of the SLS rocket as the most powerful ever to reach Earth orbit, with 15% more thrust than the Saturn V rocket that powered NASA’s moon landings in the 20th century.
And this is just the first in what is expected to be a long series of increasingly difficult Artemis missions as NASA works toward its goal of establishing a permanent outpost on the Moon. Artemis II will follow a similar path to Artemis I but will carry astronauts on board. Artemis III, scheduled for later this decade, is expected to bring a woman and a person of color to the lunar surface for the first time.
The mission team encountered a number of hiccups in the run-up to Wednesday’s launch, including technical problems with the lunar megarocket and two hurricanes passing through the launch site.
Feeding the SLS rocket supercooled liquid hydrogen proved to be a major problem that forced NASA to call off earlier liftoff attempts, but on Tuesday, the tanks filled despite leak issues that halted fuel supplies hours before launch.
“On behalf of all the men and women of our great nation who have worked to bring this team together to make this day possible, and for the generation of Artemis, this is for you,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, director of launch for Artemis.
