On NASA’s apron at the Cape Canaveral Space Center, Florida, a towering rocket waits patiently for its chance to blast off into space on America’s first mission to the Moon in 50 years.
The test flight of the Artemis program (Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and of the Moon) was suspended from its launch scheduled for last Monday, August 30 due to a technical problem, and now NASA hopes to be able to launch it on Saturday at 2:17 p.m. US Eastern Time.
It is an unmanned flight that integrates for the first time the Space Launch System (SLS), an Orion capsule and NASA systems at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The SLS is a disposable rocket that has 4 versions: “Block 1”, “Block 1B”, “Block 2” and “Block 2B”, each larger and more powerful, and is the most powerful rocket ever created to date. date, NASA has reported.
The main objective of the Artemis I mission is to demonstrate the Orion capsule systems in a space environment and to ensure a safe return, landing and recovery with the first manned flight on the Artemis II.
The flight will replicate the method followed by the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, in which the capsule separates in Earth orbit from the main rocket and is propelled towards the Moon.
There, it will orbit the satellite for six days to allow mission controllers to collect data and assess the spacecraft’s performance.
The first scheduled mission to land on the Moon will be in 2024. It will also be historic because it will carry the first woman and the first person from an ethnic minority.
Florida authorities expect an attendance of between 200,000 and 400,000 spectators for the launch of Artemis I, in an observation area regarding 10 kilometers from the platform.
To get an idea, the figure is more or less the population of the cities of Tampa and New Orleans.
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