NASA says it’s “on track” for the maiden launch of its mega moon rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, November 14.

The replace on the Artemis I mission is available in the identical week that the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will head again to the launchpad following a number of failed makes an attempt to get the automobile airborne over the summer season when technical points and Hurricane Ian disrupted plans.

NASA is at present aiming to launch its next-generation rocket throughout a 69-minute window that opens at 12:07 a.m. ET on November 14.

The launch guarantees to be fairly a spectacle because the 98-meter-tall rocket will create round 8.8 million kilos of thrust because it lifts off. That’s 13% extra energy than the Space Shuttle and 15% greater than the Saturn V rocket that powered the Apollo lunar missions 5 many years in the past.

If the Artemis I mission manages to get away throughout the proposed launch window, the SLS rocket will propel a crewless Orion spacecraft towards the moon the place it is going to carry out a fly-by earlier than returning about 25 days later with a splashdown within the Pacific Ocean on Friday, December 9.

A profitable mission will pave the best way for Artemis II, which can take the identical route however this time with astronauts on board.

After that, consideration will shift to the extremely anticipated Artemis III mission, which can land the primary lady and first individual of colour on the lunar floor in a voyage that can even mark the primary astronaut touchdown because the last Apollo mission in 1972.

The early Artemis missions are set to usher in a brand new period of area exploration, with NASA planning to construct a moon base for long-term astronaut stays on the lunar floor. It’s additionally hoped the moon presence will function a stepping stone for the primary crewed missions to Mars, probably within the late 2030s.

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