The 32-story, 98-meter-long Space Launch System (SLS) giant rocket was launched into space from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 01:47 local time. “We are taking off,” the US space agency NASA said on Twitter. This is the most powerful rocket ever launched by NASA on its way to the Moon, and is the new pillar of the US space project called Artemis. The project consists of three phases, starting with the launch of Artemis 1.
“For the Artemis generation, this is for you,” NASA Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said shortly before the launch, greeting the generation of young people who hadn’t been born when NASA launched the Apollo missions.
SLS carries the unmanned spacecraft Orion, which will later separate and fly to lunar orbit. The last time the United States sent astronauts to the Moon was during the Apollo era, from 1969 to 1972. Project Artemis was designed in preparation for building a permanent space station on the Moon to help prepare for the final mission on Mars.
This is the third launch attempt of Artemis 1, after the previous two attempts were aborted for technical reasons. The launch was also delayed due to weather issues, including Hurricane Ian that hit Florida in late September.
The spectacular launch you’ve been waiting for
Approximately 15,000 people were at the launch site to watch the spectacular event, while 100,000 people were expected to watch from the surrounding beach area.
Andrew Trombley, a space enthusiast from St. Louis, Missouri, looked forward and hoped for a successful liftoff. “I’ve been here a few times to see the launch but got cancelled. So this is my third trip here so I’m excited to see it fly,” he said.
“I was too young for the Apollo missions, so… I wanted to be here myself,” he added.
Kerry Warner, 59, a retired woman living in Florida, was excited to see it take off. This is “a part of America, and what America is,” she says passionately.
The Artemis mission prepares to build a space station on the moon
The unmanned Orion capsule was carried by two booster rockets and four engines, which detached within minutes. After one final push, the Orion capsule will enter lunar orbit and take several days to reach its destination.
But Orion did not land on the moon, but traveled about 64,000 kilometers in its orbit. Afterwards, Orion will begin his journey back to Earth.
The Artemis 1 mission will last 25 days, with a return landing in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022. NASA has been developing the SLS missile system for more than a decade and is investing more than $90 billion in its new program through end of 2025.
The Artemis 2 mission in 2024 will involve astronauts flying past the Moon’s orbit, while Artemis 3 plans to return to landing humans on the Moon, no later than 2025.
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