Everything is ready to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaverallaunch pad 39B, for the first step of A mission that will bring man back to the moon More than fifty years after the fall of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. If the next “walk” of man on the Earth of the Moon is expected Not before 2024, Starts today – August 29 – Test phase And prepare NASA to achieve the goal. And let’s start with Artemis I, The first mission to test the new space vector space launch system And the new spaceship OrionAt the moment, there are no astronauts on board. “The main objectives of the Artemis I program are to display Orion systems in a space flight environment and to ensure a safe return, landing, clearance and recovery prior to the first manned flight on Artemis II,” NASA explains.

NASA provided a two-day window for launch, due to unforeseen events due to non-ideal weather conditions or technical problems. For now, everything has been confirmed: You must leave in a two-hour period starting from 14.33 (Italian time). On the NASA website, it is possible to follow the preparation of the rocket live. The task will take 42 days, 3 hours and 20 minutes: We will travel 1.3 million miles (more than two million kilometers) to circumnavigate the satellite. It is scheduled to return to Earth on October 10.

At about 10 a.m., operations began to refuel the rocket that would carry the Orion spacecraft into orbit. The carrier is called a Space Launch System (SLS) e As Giovanni Caprara explains herehe is stronger than ever. It is 98 meters high and can carry up to 30 tons to the moon. It was built by Boeing and cost approx $22 billion. Two solid-fuel boosters, positioned on either side of the rocket, and a central stage with liquid hydrogen, will bring the Orion spacecraft into orbit (where astronauts will be on board in the future). From here, a second intermediate stage will take care of starting its engine to allow the spacecraft to reach the moon.

The real hero of Artemis I mission is Orionthe first spaceship – built by Lockheed Martin – for deep space travel (It cost about $14 billion.) Here, in the next mission Artemis II, he will be found the crew, consisting of four astronauts, will land on the surface of the moon. She is now traveling “alone”, on an important test trip (On board there will be mannequins equipped with sensorsTo understand the effects of travel on humans. “When you leave the Kennedy Space Center, you will travel more than a thousand times the distance that the International Space Station flies in low Earth orbit. NASA explains:

Service module instead of ESA. Why this? Here you will findThe power station that powers and propels a spacecraft into space. Provides propulsion, thermal control and electrical power generated by solar arrays. On missions with astronauts, the service unit will also provide life support systems for the crew, including water, oxygen and nitrogen.