After two failed attempts, NASA has finally managed to launch its Space Launch System to the Moon. This spacecraft will travel much further than any before it, to the far side of the Moon and back again.
See also: NASA: Next Artemis 1 launch attempt will take place on Wednesday
After a 50-year absence, Artemis 1 mission will be the space agency's first return to the Moon. The ultimate goal is to reach Mars in the 2030s.
On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 06:48 UTC, the rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
At 06:57 UTC, NASA announced that the SLS rocket had reached the main engine on the mission schedule. The RS-25 engines shut down and the core stage separated.
Then the solar arrays will be deployed so that the rocket is powered by the sun.
The test flight is unmanned and will cover a distance of 64,000 kilometers, which will take it beyond the other side of the Moon.
The mission will last 25 days, 11 hours and 36 minutes. The Space Launch System (SLS) will return to Earth on December 11, 2022, having traveled a total distance of 2.09 million kilometers.
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This is the first of many missions that will bring humans back to the Moon. This mission is designed to be complex so that we can learn and prepare for future missions.
The new SLS rocket will not only travel to the Moon – farther than any other human spacecraft – but will also deploy small satellites. It is by far the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched.
On Orion there will be a strange mix of dolls, objects, souvenirs and zero-gravity markers.
The goal is to repeatedly practice operating the spacecraft and test different conditions for the crew to ensure that the spacecraft will be safe for future crew members.
NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which will depart in 2024, will be the first manned mission to use an improved version of the Space Launch System rocket – that is, if the spacesuits are ready.
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The Artemis 3 mission will launch in 2025, aiming to land the first woman and the first person of color on or near the Moon's south pole. The Artemis 4 mission in 2027 will carry astronauts to Gateway, a mini-lunar station.
