NASA’s giant rocket blasted off to the moon with its sights on Mars

This content was published on Aug 29 2022-02:57
August 29, 2022 – 02:57

(AFP)

On Monday, NASA launched from Florida, bound for the moon, the most powerful rocket ever built for a six-week mission in space, in front of tens of thousands of onlookers.

Fifty years after the last Apollo flight, the Artemis 1 mission will mark the launch of the US program to return to the Moon, which could then make it possible to go to Mars on the same spacecraft.

Orion’s unmanned capsule will be placed in lunar orbit to ensure it is safe for future astronauts, which will include the first woman and first black person to walk on the moon.

“This mission holds the dreams and hopes of many people,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Now we are the generation of Artemis.”

Take off is scheduled for 0833 local time (1233 GMT), from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

The weather forecast is 80% favorable to meet the launch on time, which takes two hours to take off.

At an altitude of 98 meters, the orange and white SLS rocket will not be able to take off in rain or thunderstorms.

From Sunday night to Monday morning, fuel tanks will be filled with more than three million liters of hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson will be the first woman to lead a launch at NASA.

Women represent 30% of the workforce inside the launch room, unlike Apollo 11 where only one woman participated.

Two minutes after launch, the boosters will return to Earth to drop into the Atlantic Ocean. After eight minutes, the main segment will separate, and after about an hour and a half, a final thrust will send the capsule bound for the moon, where it will take several days to arrive.

It is estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 people will attend the launch event, including US Vice President Kamala Harris.

– record distance –

Regardless of the weather, technical issues could cause the takeoff to be delayed at the last minute because it is a test flight, NASA members warned.

If the launch does not happen, the next scheduled date is September 2.

The main objective of the mission is to test the capsule’s heat shield, which upon its return to the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 40,000 km / h must withstand a heat equivalent to half the temperature of the sun.

On board the spacecraft, instead of the astronauts, there will be dolls equipped with sensors to record vibrations and radiation levels.

In addition, small satellites will be deployed to study the moon or even asteroids, while onboard cameras will record every moment of the 42-day mission.

The capsule will travel 64,000 kilometers behind the moon, the longest distance a ship adapted to accommodate a crew has ever reached.

A mission failure would be devastating for a $4.1 billion missile and several years behind schedule, originally set by Congress for 2017.

– live on the moon –

“What we’re going to start this launch with on Monday is not a short-term sprint, but a long-term marathon to bring the solar system and beyond into our sphere,” said Bhavya Lal, NASA associate administrator.

The second mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts to the Moon in 2024 without landing, an honor reserved for those taking part in the Artemis 3 mission, scheduled for at least 2025.

By that date, NASA’s idea was to launch about one mission each year with the goal of establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon, building the Gateway space station orbiting it, and installing a lunar base.

In this scenario, humanity would have to learn to live in space and test the technology needed for a multi-year round trip to Mars, which could be completed “by the end of 2030,” Bill Nelson estimates.

Before the trip to Mars, going to the moon is a strategic mission, given the ambitions of competing nations, especially China.

“We want to go to the south pole (of the moon, ndlr), which is where the resources are,” Nelson told NBC, “particularly water in the form of ice.”

We don’t want China to go to that place and say, “This is our land.”