US targeting Feb. 2022 to launch new lunar program Artemis

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 01:47:17 GMT
Space Daily

Washington (AFP) Oct 23, 2021 NASA is aiming to launch its uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1 in...

NASA is aiming to launch its uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1 in February next year, the space agency said Friday, the first step in America's plan to return humans to the Moon.

The agency had initially hoped to launch the test flight by the end of this year, with astronauts set to walk on the Moon by 2024.

It achieved a major milestone Wednesday when it stacked the Orion crew capsule atop its Space Launch System megarocket, which now stands 322 feet tall inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It will be wheeled out to the launchpad for a "Wet dress rehearsal" in January, with the first window for launch opening in February, officials told reporters on a call.

"The February launch period opens on the 12th and our last opportunity in February is on the 27th," said Mike Sarafin, Artemis 1 mission manager.

These potential launch periods are dependent on orbital mechanics and the relative position of the Earth with respect to the Moon.

Artemis 2 is then scheduled for 2023 and Artemis 3 for the following year, when humans will walk on the Moon for the first time since 1972.

Orion first flew into space in 2014, launched by a Delta IV rocket, making two circumnavigations of Earth and testing its heat shield on re-entry into the atmosphere.

Artemis 1 has several objectives: to demonstrate Orion's ability to return from the Moon and operate in deep space where it is "Much colder than in low Earth orbit," and to successfully recover the spacecraft, he added.

China on Monday denied a report it had recently launched a hypersonic missile, saying it tested a spacecraft to trial reusable technologies.

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