NASA plans to take the first steps Upon returning to the moon In late August or early September with the launch of the Orion spacecraft to orbit the moon, agency officials told reporters Wednesday.
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NASA said the long-awaited flight, which will not carry astronauts, will take off on August 29, September 2, or September 5. Specific date for a task who have been in business for many years.
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The flight will also be the first launch of a giant Space Launch System rocket, a milestone in Artemis’ campaign to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
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Due to the complexity of the vehicle and the fact that NASA has never launched an SLS rocket before, NASA emphasizes that launch dates at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are tentative and subject to change.
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It took several NASA efforts earlier this year to conduct refueling tests and countdown simulations, known as drills, for the SLS rocket. When they loaded the rocket with 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the engineers encountered a series of problems, Including hydrogen leak That prevented NASA from completing the countdown to the test. As a result, NASA had to roll the rocket from the launch pad to its assembly building for additional repairs and testing.
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However, officials said they managed to solve it Test enough to step forward try to launch. On Wednesday, space agency officials said everything was going well.
The mission, known as Artemis I, will send the crew’s Orion capsule into lunar orbit for about six weeks, allowing the agency to test a series of systems before placing astronauts on board.
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One of the main goals of the flight was to test Orion’s heat shield, said Mike Sarafin, NASA’s Artemis mission manager. The heat shield is meant to protect Orion and its future crew from the extreme temperatures it will face when it enters Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 24,500 miles per hour, or Mach 32. That temperature will reach “half the sun’s height,” Sarafin said.
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NASA will also test the spacecraft’s navigation system, its ability to use energy drawn from the solar array and its flexibility when traveling through areas of high radiation. The three mannequins on board will be equipped with sensors to determine how astronauts perform during flight. Another test, Sarafin said, was to recover the spacecraft after it crashed into the sea.
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Given that NASA is not attempting to send a spacecraft designed to transport humans to Months in 50 yearsProblems are predictable, the money changer said, but “our team is ready to adapt along the way.”
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If the Artemis I mission goes according to plan, NASA is planning a similar mission, known as Artemis II, with astronauts on board. NASA says the human landing, dubbed Artemis III, could happen as early as 2025.
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If NASA decides to go ahead with the launch of the Artemis I rocket on August 29, the SLS rocket will launch from the assembly building to the launch pad on August 18.
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“We think we are on a good track to get there [launch] said Jim Frey, associate administrator for NASA. But he reminded reporters that astronauts often tell their families who come to watch them launch into space that they should “plan a seven-day vacation to Florida, and you might as well see a launch there.”
