For years, NASA was engaged on the Artemis 1 mission, it is finally going to be launched. On Monday, the Orion spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex. All the preparations for this mission have been completed. This will be NASA’s first test flight before sending humans to the moon, in which no crew will go.
NASA‘s most powerful space rocket to date is ready to leave Earth and go into space. NASA is preparing to send humans to the moon after a long gap of 50 years. This is going to be the first time since 1972 that humans will once again step on the moon. In this exercise, NASA is sending its first test flight to space under the Artemis 1 mission. This spacecraft will fly this rocket from its Florida launchpad on Monday.
Under Artemis 1 launch, the mission will be sent to the Orion spacecraft, which has a deep-space exploration capsule for 6 people at the top. It will have a 322 feet long Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket weighing 2,600 tonnes. This rocket is ready for its first liftoff at 8.33 am on Monday.
Artemis 1 Mission Launch:
It will be launched from the same Cape Canaveral launch complex in Florida, from where the Apollo Lunar Mission was launched half a century ago.
This is a test before sending humans to the moon. At present, no crew is going in it. Mannequins are being placed in place of humans in Orion. With this, NASA will evaluate the next generation spacesuit and radiation level. A Snoopy soft toy is also being sent along with the mannequins, which will float around the capsule and act as a zero gravity indicator. Orion will make a 42-day long journey around the Moon.
If this mission is successful, then by the end of 2025, the first woman and two astronauts will be landed on the South Pole of the Moon. The second test flight Artemis II, scheduled for May 2024, will carry 4 people behind the moon, it will not land on the moon.
NASA official and former Space Shuttle astronaut Bill Nelson says the mission manager will test the rocket’s capabilities in this flight to make sure the flight is safe for astronauts.
Orion will be the first spacecraft to remain in space for a long time without docking on the space station. He will return home in mid-October. This spacecraft will travel 60,000 km to get close to the moon, spend 42 days there and return to Earth.