NASA: NASA’s Artemis 1 mission successfully launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. NASA streamed the event live on various social media and posted clips on its Twitter account. The 32-story Space Launch System (SLS) blasted off at 01:47 (local time), generating a record thrust of 8.8 million pounds.
“Now we’re going back to the moon, not just to get to the moon, but to learn how to live on the moon, to prepare to send humans all the way to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. press conference after the launch. “This is another beginning, this is the Artemis generation,” added Mr. Nelson.
Orion will orbit Earth’s nearest neighbour, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of colour touch down on lunar soil.
This time it hopes to build a sustained presence including a lunar space station to help prepare for the final mission to Mars in the 2030s.
Eight minutes after launch, the core stage engines cut off and the core stage separated from the rest of the rocket. After this, the Orion spacecraft was propelled by the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). NASA also deployed the Orion spacecraft’s four solar arrays. After completing “translunar injection,” Orion separated itself from ICPS and is now on its way to the lunar orbit.
Notably, the NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was previously scheduled to launch on November 14 but had to be suspended due to Tropical Storm Nicole. The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were left at the launch complex to weather the storm and suffered minor damage as a result. Previous attempts by the space agency to launch the Artemis 1 mission had to be cancelled due to various problems with the new rocket and spacecraft. The first launch attempt had to be scrubbed due to an engine bleed problem with one of the entry stage RS-25 engines, while the second launch attempt had to be scrubbed due to a hydrogen leak.
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