NASA to launch long-delayed Artemis 1 Moon mission today; see details here

The 32-storey Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1:04 am EST (0604 GMT) i.e. 11.30 am IST on Wednesday, sending its Orion capsule on a 25-day journey. Moon and back without astronauts.

This is the third attempt to put an empty capsule around the moon for the first time in 50 years.

Previous attempts at launches on August 29 and September 3 were canceled due to fuel line leaks and other technical problems, which NASA has since resolved, then further delayed by a pair of storms. While engineers never discovered the cause of the hydrogen release, they changed the fueling process to minimize the leak and were confident that all plumbing in the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket would remain tight and intact.

Weather is always a factor beyond NASA’s control. NASA said the latest forecast called for an 80% chance of favorable conditions during Wednesday’s two-hour launch window.

NASA added an hour to the operation for a slow fill critical to reducing pressure on the fuel lines and keeping the seals. It seems to be working, no major leaks were reported during the initial stages.

“So far, everything is going very smoothly,” said assistant launch director Jeremy Graber about an hour into refueling.

The rocket was being gassed with about one million gallons (3.7 million litres) of super-cold hydrogen and oxygen. After more than four hours, the core stage was fully loaded and refueling was underway on the upper stage.

NASA had expected 15,000 to jam the Kennedy Space Center for the launch in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with thousands more on the beaches and streets outside the gates. The space agency had two hours to land the rocket, before it was to stand down until Saturday.

The debut of the Space Launch System rocket, known as SLS, carried three test dummies but no astronauts inside the crew capsule at the top, which NASA hopes to put into lunar orbit.

This first test flight was expected to last three weeks, ending with a splashdown over the Pacific. NASA’s top priority for the $4.1 billion mission is to verify the capsule’s heat shield during re-entry, so four astronauts can strap on for the next moon trip in 2024. This will be followed by two manned lunar landings in 2025.

NASA last sent astronauts to the Moon in December 1972, closing the Apollo program.

Here’s an overview of the Artemis program:

Artemis 1

Artemis 1 is a test flight of the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule that sits on top. Sensor-equipped mannequins would replace crew members in flight, recording vibrations, accelerations and radiation levels. Orion will orbit the Moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Artemis 2

Planned for 2024, Artemis 2 will be a crewed flight that will orbit the Moon but not land on the surface, as Apollo 8 did. The four crew members will be named before the end of the year. One of them is expected to be Canadian.

Artemis 3

The third Artemis mission will be the first to send astronauts to the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. For the first time, NASA will land a manned spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon, where water is in the form of ice. got to know. Previous Moon landings took place near the equator. Artemis 3 is scheduled for 2025, but may not happen until 2026 at the earliest, according to an independent audit of the program. Starting with Artemis 3, NASA plans to launch crewed missions approximately once a year.

spacex moon lander

NASA has selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build the Moon lander for Artemis 3. SpaceX’s Starship, which is still under development, will serve as a shuttle from the Orion crew capsule to the lunar surface and back.

gateway space station

The Artemis program also calls for the construction of a space station called the Gateway that will orbit the Moon. The launch of the first two elements – the living quarters module and the power and propulsion system – is planned for late 2024 at the earliest by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The Orion crew will be responsible for the assembly of the Gateway. Astronauts will spend between 30 and 60 days in the Gateway and will eventually be able to reach a lander that will allow them to travel to the Moon and back. The Gateway will also serve as a staging point for any future journeys to Mars.

destination mars

The ultimate objective of the Artemis program is what NASA calls “the next giant leap – human exploration of Mars”. NASA will use the knowledge gained from Artemis about next-generation spacesuits, vehicles, propulsion, resupply and other areas to prepare for the journey to Mars. The goal is to learn how to maintain human presence in deep space for long periods. Part of the plan is to build a “base camp” on the Moon, which involves astronauts living on the lunar surface for up to two months. While a trip to the Moon takes only a few days, a trip to Mars would take at least several months.

(with inputs from agencies)