On Wednesday, November 16, the predawn sky of Florida's space coast lit up early as NASA's 322-foot-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket roared to life off the launch pad with a few mannequins onboard a crew capsule. The 1.2 million-mile trip around the Moon will bring NASA a step closer to its ambitious goal of returning humans to the lunar surface.
Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told her team at Kennedy Space Center after the takeoff that she was speechless at the historic first event that just took place and that each one in the control room has earned their place in history, a chance that may only come once in a career.
Artemis I Launch Marks Debut Flight of SLS and Orion
At 1:47 am ET, the SLS rocket emitted up to 9 million pounds (4.1 million kilograms) of thrust to haul itself off the launchpad in Florida and into the sky, CNN reports. Atop the rocket is the Orion capsule designed to carry humans, but for this test mission, it carries a few inanimate varieties to collect vital data to help future crewed missions.
After expending millions of pounds of fuel, the SLS began to break away to leave the Orion spacecraft to soar through orbit with just one large engine that set off two powerful burns to maneuver it to the correct trajectory toward the Moon. About two hours after the launch, the Orion spacecraft started flying as the rocket engine fell away.
NASA said the journey around the Moon would be long at an estimated 1.3 million miles (2 million kilometers), following a path that will lead it farther than any other spacecraft has traveled. Orion is expected to return to Earth after 25.5 days and is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on December 11, where recovery teams will await.
Engineers at NASA will closely monitor the performance of Orion to evaluate whether it is performing as intended and if it will be ready to support the next stage of the Artemis Program, which is to send a crewed mission to lunar orbit in 2024.
The recent rocket launch is the maiden flight of the SLS and Orion, boasting 15% more thrust than the Saturn V rocket that sent crewed missions on the lunar surface in 1970. More so, it is the first mission in the long series of increasingly difficult Artemis missions as NASA moves to establish a permanent outpost on the Moon.
The Long Way to Artemis I's Launch
Artemis I's historic launch comes after years of doubts, setbacks, and delays. But it will be the groundwork for astronauts to develop a colony on the lunar surface and Mars, although there are more things to do before these dreams come true.
Arriving at the special Wednesday launch was not easy as it is rather tumultuous, to say the least, per CNet. Its first attempted launch on August 29 was canceled due to a leak in a line that feeds liquid hydrogen on the rocket's booster.
Then its second attempt on September 3 was also canceled due to an engine issue just as it was ready to take off. Bad weather conditions have further pushed the launch date back, leading to the third attempt this week.
But those struggles are now in the past as Artemis I's lunar journey began upon its liftoff that was streamed across the world in glorious high definition, a far cry from the low-quality footage of the Saturn V launch in the late 1960s.
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Check out more news and information on Artemis Program in Science Times.
