NASA has finally succeeded in launching an SLS rocket into space. This should eventually lead to a new human on the moon. Although there are cheaper alternatives.
The world’s largest rocket has finally taken off from Earth. The US space agency NASA had been trying to fly the Space Launch System (SLS) since August 29, but technical problems and a hurricane caused delays. It worked last week. The night launch in Florida gave rocket watchers a rare treat, as the platform’s incandescent exhaust lit up the landscape for miles around.
The destination of the SLS (or rather, Orion, the capsule it carries) is the moon, even if it won’t land there. This version of Orion is still unmanned. But others will return astronauts to the lunar surface half a century after the end of the Apollo program. That project, Artemis, will use the SLS as a launch vehicle. But Artemis 1, as the mission is formally called, will just launch a few cube-shaped satellites that will conduct scientific studies, then make a few intricate loops around the moon before returning home on Dec. 11.
If all goes according to plan, there will be a manned flight beyond the moon in 2024 and a landing in 2025. But few think that the timetable will be respected. Delay is what characterizes SLS. The first launch will take place in 2016. If America returns to the moon, then the end of the decade looks more realistic.
The delays aren’t the only source of criticism. Much of the SLS, including the side boosters and the orange fuel tank that forms its body, is made from recycled parts from the Space Shuttle, which made its last flight in 2011. The official reason for using the technology from the s ’80 is that it is time-tested. But politicians also want to keep existing, well-paying jobs. This may help explain why, despite using known technology, SLS has cost $23 billion to develop to date, and each launch is expected to cost $2 billion.
SpaceX
There are cheaper alternatives. NASA already relies on the Falcon 9 reusable rocket from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. And SpaceX is working on its own giant rocket, Starship. In that case, a launch might cost no more than $10 million. The spacecraft will soon fly around the Earth for the first time. If successful, Starship will soon render SLS useless.
More launches are unlikely to disrupt this process. When then-NASA chief Jim Bridenstine suggested in 2019 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket could provide a cheaper and faster route back to the moon, he was shot down by pro-SLS politicians. America will go back to the moon. But it won’t be cheap.
The world’s largest rocket has finally taken off from Earth. The US space agency NASA had been trying to fly the Space Launch System (SLS) since August 29, but technical problems and a hurricane caused delays. It worked last week. The nighttime launch in Florida gave rocket watchers a rare treat, as the platform’s incandescent exhaust lit up the landscape for miles around. The destination of the SLS (or rather, Orion, the capsule it carries) is the moon, even if it won’t land there. This version of Orion is still unmanned. But others will return astronauts to the lunar surface half a century after the end of the Apollo program. That project, Artemis, will use the SLS as a launch vehicle. But Artemis 1, as the mission is formally called, will just launch a few cube-shaped satellites that will conduct scientific studies, then make a few intricate loops around the moon before returning home on Dec. 11. If all goes according to plan, there will be a manned flight past the moon in 2024 and a landing in 2025. But few think that the timetable will be respected. Delay is what characterizes SLS. The first launch will take place in 2016. If America returns to the moon, then the end of the decade looks more realistic. The delays aren’t the only source of criticism. Much of the SLS, including the side boosters and the orange fuel tank that forms its body, is made from recycled parts from the Space Shuttle, which made its last flight in 2011. The official reason for using the technology from the s ’80 is that it is time-tested. But politicians also want to keep existing, well-paying jobs. This may help explain why, despite using known technology, SLS has cost $23 billion to develop to date, and each launch is expected to cost $2 billion. There are cheaper alternatives. NASA already relies on the Falcon 9 reusable rocket from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. And SpaceX is working on its own giant rocket, Starship. In that case, a launch might cost no more than $10 million. The spacecraft will soon fly around the Earth for the first time. If successful, Starship will soon render SLS useless. More launches are unlikely to disrupt this process. When then-NASA chief Jim Bridenstine suggested in 2019 that SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket could provide a cheaper and faster route back to the moon, he was shot down by pro-SLS politicians. America will go back to the moon. But it won’t be cheap.
