NASA’s Artemis launches successfully, starting the long-awaited expedition to the moon
By Adeyemi Adekunle
NASA launched the Artemis I mission on Wednesday from Florida, with the agency’s most powerful rocket ever kicking off a nearly month-long journey with a ground-shaking liftoff.
So far the mission is going as planned, reaching orbit around the Earth, but multiple milestones are yet to come.
While no astronauts are onboard, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is carrying the Orion capsule on a demonstration for NASA’s lunar program. Artemis I will not land on the moon, but the spacecraft will orbit nearby before returning to Earth in 26 days.
The mission exemplifies a crucial inflection point in NASA’s moon plans, with the program delayed for years and running billions of dollars over budget. The Artemis program represents a series of missions with escalating goals, with the third – tentatively scheduled for 2025 – expected to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo era.
Artemis I will now travel about 1.3 million miles over 42 days. The Orion capsule will distinguish itself from the SLS rocket, and leave Earth’s orbit en route to the moon. NASA plans to fly Orion as close as 60 miles above the moon’s surface, before moving into a broad orbit around the lunar body. To return, Orion will use the moon’s gravity to assist it in setting a trajectory back into Earth’s orbit.
NASA first tried to launch Artemis I in August but has canceled multiple attempts since then after discovering technical difficulties with the rocket’s engines.
In September the agency rolled the rocket back into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for protection from Hurricane Ian, returning the vehicle to the LC-39B launchpad on Nov. 3.
Last week, NASA left SLS and Orion out on the launchpad to weather the winds of Hurricane Nicole.
NASA said it inspected the rocket and spacecraft after the downpour passed and found no major damage to the vehicle. It said a 10-foot section of insulation near the Orion capsule had pulled off due to the high winds – but NASA decided to proceed with Wednesday’s launch experiment after an analysis revealed it was not anticipated to cause any substantial devastation if the insulation falls off during the launch.
A Nigerian trained investigative journalist, who cover various news beats in Nigeria.
