Well it’s true that there are still a few weeks left for such a sentence to be pronounced (if this is said haciendo, claro, igual ese protocolo quedó obsolete hace décadades) cuando se haya confirmed que all los sistemas funcionan correctlyamente y que se puede proceder al lanzamiento de la misión Artemis I, lo que dará inicio al programa más ambicioso de the Nasa decades, and that it is also not for one, but for two reasons.
The first is, of course, that Artemis This is the program that aims to bring humans back to the Moon. Next December, it will be 50 years since Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt set foot on our natural satellite, while Ronald Evans orbited the Moon awaiting his return to the command and service module. Since then, and although the initial plans for space exploration were much more ambitious, the truth is that the Apollo XVII mission marked the end of the program (with the exception of the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission, the first collaboration between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the space race).
To finish It will take 50 years before man sets foot on the moon again.but at least we will live this date with the hope that Artemis will follow in his footsteps and, sooner rather than later, we will again be able to see images as impressive as those of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descending the ladder of the lunar module to let a temporary trace on the surface of the Moon but indelible in the memory of those who lived it.
The second reason why Artemis, and specifically Artemis I, is a milestone for the US space agency is that This will be the long-awaited launch of the Space Launch System (SLS)the NASA project that the agency has been working on for more than a decade and which, once completed, will make it possible to launch into space without having to depend on third parties, as it has had to do for many years with the Russian space agency and more recently with SpaceX.
And the good news is that while there are still pre-launch checks ahead, in principle everything would be ready for the same. Thus, the launch is scheduled for 2:33 a.m. on August 29, Spanish peninsula time, taking advantage of the first of a series of windows that will occur on these days. So if weather or other issues delay the launch, there are more launch opportunities in September, the 2nd and 5th of that month.
The SLS launch will take place at Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and, as a payload of the SLS, the Orion crew capsule will be found (filled this time with mannequins that will collect data) which will carry out a 42-day mission in orbit around the Moon to collect data. After completing its mission, it will return to Earth, where it is expected to hit the ocean on October 10.
“As NASA’s first Artemis I launch attempt nears, teams are advancing the schedule to complete final checks and shutdowns of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB ) from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA wrote in an update.
“Crews retract the VAB platforms that provide access to the rocket and spacecraft after engineers finish installing thermal blankets on the temporary cryogenic booster stage around the launcher’s stage adapter . Technicians also replaced the flight doors on the engine section of the rocket’s core stage. Final inspections have been done on these sections and they are ready to fly.“.