Liftoff ! Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon

Overview

Following a successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency’s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 1:47 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis program

Artemis program’s LOGO

The Artemis program^[1] is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) along with three partner agencies: European Space Agency ( ESA ), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ), and Canadian Space Agency ( CSA ). The Artemis program intends to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The Artemis 1 mission is also carrying a series of small satellites in orbit around the moon that will carry out scientific exploration, including further observations of permanently shadowed craters, where scientists are thought to have water, And measuring the radiation environment to understand the effects of long-term exposure on humans.

The major components of the program are the Space Launch System ( SLS ), Orion spacecraft, Lunar Gateway space station and the commercial Human Landing Systems, including Starship HLS. The program’s long-term goal is to establish a permanent base camp on the Moon and facilitate human missions to Mars.

A subsequent Artemis 3 mission was designed to land on the moon’s surface and stay there for a long time in preparation for a trip to Mars.

Detail

With all of the work platforms retracted, NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher are in view in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 3, 2022. The crawler-transporter, driven by engineers, will slide under the Artemis I stack atop the mobile launcher and carry it to Launch Complex 39B for a wet dress rehearsal test ahead of the Artemis I launch. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

“What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.^[2]

After reaching its initial orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and engineers began performing checkouts of the spacecraft’s systems. About 1.5 hours into flight, the rocket’s upper stage engine successfully fired for approximately 18 minutes to give Orion the big push needed to send it out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon.

Orion has separated from its upper stage and is on its outbound coast to the Moon powered by its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency) through an international collaboration.

“It’s taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon,” said Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.”

Over the next several hours, a series of 10 small science investigations and technology demonstrations, called CubeSats, will deploy from a ring that connected the upper stage to the spacecraft. Each CubeSat has its own mission that has the potential to fill gaps in our knowledge of the solar system or demonstrate technologies that may benefit the design of future missions to explore the Moon and beyond.

Orion’s service module will also perform the first of a series of burns to keep Orion on course toward the Moon approximately eight hours after launch. In the coming days, mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct additional checkouts and course corrections as needed. Orion is expected to fly by the Moon on Nov. 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

“The Space Launch System rocket delivered the power and performance to send Orion on its way to the Moon,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. “With the accomplishment of the first major milestone of the mission, Orion will now embark on the next phase to test its systems and prepare for future missions with astronauts.”

The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 4 where they rode out Hurricane Nicole. Following the storm, teams conducted thorough assessments of the rocket, spacecraft, and associated ground systems and confirmed there were no significant impacts from the severe weather.

Engineers previously rolled the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) Sept. 26 ahead of Hurricane Ian and after waving off two previous launch attempts Aug. 29 due to a faulty temperature sensor, and Sept. 4 due to a liquid hydrogen leak at an interface between the rocket and mobile launcher. Prior to rolling back to the VAB, teams successfully repaired the leak and demonstrated updated tanking procedures. While in the VAB, teams performed standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries throughout the system.

Artemis I is supported by thousands of people around the world, from contractors who built Orion and SLS, and the ground infrastructure needed to launch them, to international and university partners, to small businesses supplying subsystems and components.