NASA’s new Moon rocket launched early Wednesday with three test dummies on board, bringing the US one step closer to putting astronauts back on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo mission ended 50 years ago.
If everything goes well during the three-week trip, the rocket will launch an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the Moon, and the capsule will return to Earth in December with a splashdown in the Pacific.
After years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered upward, soaring from Kennedy Space Center on 4 million kilograms (8.8 million pounds) of thrust and reaching 160km/h (100 mph) in seconds. Not quite two hours into the flight, the Orion capsule was positioned on top, ready to break out of Earth orbit and head for the Moon.
The moonshot follows nearly three months of vexing fuel leaks that kept the rocket bouncing between its hangar and the pad. Forced back indoors by Hurricane Ian at the end of September, the rocket remained outside as Nicole swept through last week with gusts of more than 130km/h (80 mph). Although the wind peeled away a 3-metre (10-foot) strip of caulking high up near the capsule, managers gave the green light for the launch
The launch signaled the beginning of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration mission, which was named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister. The space agency plans to send four astronauts around the Moon on the following voyage in 2024, with the goal of landing humans there as soon as 2025.
The 98-metre (322-foot) SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA, with more thrust than either the space shuttle or the mighty Saturn V that carried men to the Moon.
Orion should reach the Moon by Monday, more than 370,000km (230,000 miles) from Earth. After coming within 130km (80 miles) of the Moon, the capsule will enter a far-flung orbit stretching about 64,000km (40,000 miles) beyond.
The $4.1bn test flight is expected to last 25 days, roughly the same as when crews will be on board. The space agency intends to push the spacecraft to its limits and uncover any problems before astronauts strap in. The mannequins – NASA calls them moonequins – are fitted with sensors to measure such things as vibration, acceleration and cosmic radiation.
The rocket was supposed to have made its dry run by 2017. Government watchdogs estimate NASA will have spent $93bn on the project by 2025.
Ultimately, NASA hopes to establish a base on the Moon and send astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s.
Aljazeera
