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NASA: Artemis I lunar mission rocket launch successful

16.11.2022

Translation: machine translated

The Artemis I mission has been successfully launched. Today, 16 November 2022, at 7:47 a.m. (CET), NASA's Space Launch System lifted off and put the Orion capsule on its way to the moon.

NASA wants to put the first woman and the first person of colour on the moon in 2025 - and then create a long-term presence on the satellite. This is to happen with the Artemis III mission. In preparation for this, there are the Artemis I and II missions. The former has been successfully launched. This, after the launch was postponed several times - on 29 August due to an engine problem, on 3 September due to a hydrogen leak.

The unmanned rocket - the Space Launch System (SLS) - ignited at 7:47 a.m., lifting off with roaring engines from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida.

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The heavy-lift SLS rocket is 98 metres high in the Artemis I configuration and weighed about 2500 tonnes at launch. Its payload capacity for transport to near-Earth orbit is up to 95 tonnes. It can carry up to about 26 tonnes of payload to the moon. The rocket uses four RS-25D/E engines that run on hydrogen and oxygen. The big orange thing is the tank of this core stage. It is complemented by two solid fuel boosters - the big white cylinders mounted on the side. The upper stage consists of four RL-10 re-ignitable engines.

Das Space Launch System ist 98 Meter hoch und wiegt beim Start 2500 Tonnen.
Source: NASA

The white top on top of the rocket is the Orion capsule. A spacecraft that completed a test flight back in 2014 and was designed for missions beyond Earth's orbit, but Artemis I has no humans inside. In their place sit three mannequins, named "Commander Moonikin Campos", "Helga" and "Zohar". The Commander wears a suit of the future astronauts. Helga and Zohar wear radiation detectors, with only Zohar additionally protected by a radiation waistcoat.

Helga und Zohar in der Orion-Kapsel.
Source: NASA

After the SLS successfully launches the Orion capsule into space, the mission will last 26 days. The spacecraft will travel just over two million kilometres. In the process, it will fly to the moon and orbit it for several days before making the return journey to Earth. The capsule will not land on the moon during this mission. If everything goes well, it will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on 11 December. NASA is paying special attention to testing Orion's heat shield before it will land in the Pacific Ocean.

Die geplante Flugbahn von Artemis I.
Source: NASA

The reason there are no humans on board Artemis I is because it is the first launch of the Space Launch System. The entire mission is a test for the new rocket and the Orion capsule. In addition to the three mannequins, Shaun the plush sheep and Snoopy, the pet dog from the comic series "The Peanuts", are also on board - they serve as indicators of weightlessness. Ten small satellites provide for experiments outside the spacecraft. Some of them will map ice on the moon, one will unfurl a solar sail and then set off in the direction of an asteroid. And yet another will try to land on the moon.

Titelbild: NASA

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