NASA successfully launched the next-generation SLS rocket with Orion spacecraft to the moon. This marks a new era in space exploration.
Packing 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch, the world’s most powerful operational rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:47 a.m. ET on Wednesday November 16, for its first-ever flight.
We are going.
The first time that the @NASA_SLSRocket and @NASA_OrionFly together #ArtemisI start a new chapter for human lunar exploration. pic.twitter.com/vmC64Qgft9
— NASA (@NASA) November 16, 2022
Artemis I is the mission that sends the SLS rocket, which measures 98 meters tall, to the moon. It will fly the uncrewed Orion capsule within 62 miles of the surface of the moon and 40,000 miles beyond its far side. This will be further than any human-rated spacecraft ever went. The mission, which is testing technologies for upcoming crewed lunar missions, will end with Orion’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on December 11.
You can follow the spacecraft’s progress on NASA’s Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). The site shares data that lets you pinpoint the Orion’s precise location, as well as its distance from Earth and the moon.
NASA officials will be relieved that the SLS rocket is finally heading skyward after several delays caused by technical problems.
Artemis I was a success, and Artemis II will be successful, with astronauts riding on Orion capsules.
The highly anticipated Artemis III mission, which will attempt to place the first woman and the first person of color on lunar surface will follow. The first moon landing by an astronautSince the 1972 final Apollo mission.
NASA and its international partner plan to create a permanent moon base on Mars for long-term astronaut visits. This outpost could be used as a stepping stone to the first crewed Mars visit.
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