In news– Recently, the Artemis I Moon rocket – NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) with the Orion spacecraft atop it has been rolled out for its testing debut at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time.
About Artemis I-
- Artemis 1 is a planned uncrewed test flight for NASA‘s Artemis program and is named after Apollo’s twin sister, the goddess of the moon in Greek myth.
- It is the first flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) super heavy-lift launch vehicle and the first flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV).
- It will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
- During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
- It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission.
- Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
- The SLS rocket is designed for missions beyond low-Earth orbit carrying crew or cargo to the Moon and beyond.
- As the spacecraft makes an orbit of Earth, it will deploy its solar arrays and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will give Orion the big push needed to leave Earth’s orbit and travel toward the Moon.
- With Artemis, NASA plans to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon and establish long-term exploration in preparation for missions to Mars.
- The Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and other Americans to the lunar surface.
- The Artemis program is named after Apollo’s twin sister, the goddess of the moon in Greek myth.
Source: NASA
