Artemis 1 has a mission duration of 25 days, 11 hours and 36 minutes
Artemis 1 taking off The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has inched closer to reaching the moon after its first Artemis mission successfully took off at 12:17 pm IST November 16, 2022, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida after multiple delays.
“We are together back to the Moon and beyond,” NASA announced during the launch. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft is in Earth’s orbit, the space agency confirmed.
“For the first time, the [Space Launch System] SLS rocket and Orion fly together. Artemis I begins a new chapter in human lunar exploration,” NASA wrote on Twitter.
With this, NASA has inched closer to putting the first woman and the next man back into the moon after over 50 years.
The Orion spacecraft has successfully deployed its solar arrays. They are now drawing power and performing well, NASA announced.
The team is awaiting the next milestone: A manoeuvre targeted for approximately 2:41 am EST that will send Orion to the moon.
Artemis 1 has a mission duration of 25 days, 11 hours and 36 minutes. It will travel a total distance of 1.3 million miles before splashdown off the coast of Baja California December 11, 2022.
“This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known,” Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
NASA announced a two-hour window November 16. The mission was given a “go” after a 30-minute hold.
“The Eastern Range and launch teams have since resolved an issue that caused a loss of signal from a radar site and are currently in the process of conducting required tests to ensure communication and tracking of the rocket and spacecraft,” NASA wrote in a blog.
Orion will pass through the Van Allen radiation belts (part of the Earth’s magnetosphere), Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation, and communication satellites in the Earth’s orbit.
It will move as close to 62 miles above the moon’s surface and go way past the moon and way deeper into space, and orbit about 40,000 miles (70,000 km) from the moon.
Artemis 1 has 24 cameras — eight on SLS and 16 on Orion. They will document essential mission events, including lift-off, ascent, solar array deployment, external rocket inspections, landing and recovery, and capture images of the Earth and the moon.
Artemis 1 will assess the integrated systems by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after re-entry, descent, and splashdown. This is crucial before a crew is sent to the moon in the subsequent Artemis missions.
Artemis 2, scheduled for launch in 2023, will be a crewed mission. It will be built upon the uncrewed Artemis I flight test, Sarafin said.
The Mission is expected to last 10 days. The crew will travel 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the moon.
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