The countdown is on.
NASA’s massive rocket, called the Space Launch System (SLS), is set to lift off Monday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
On top of the rocket is Orion, the spacecraft that will eventually take astronauts to the Moon.
This mission, called Artemis I, is a critical test of several things: how SLS works; how Orion acts; and how it maintains its heat shield upon re-entry after traveling to the Moon and entering at extremely high speeds.
There are also several tests on board, including radiation experiments on three dummies. High doses of space radiation can be lethal to humans.
All this is to pave the way for Artemis II, planned for 2024 or 2025, when four astronauts, including a Canadian, will orbit the moon.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is on launch pad 39B ready to blast off to the Moon. (Turgut Yeter/CBC)
The rocket will launch no earlier than 8:33 a.m. Monday morning, with a two-hour launch window.
During a mission briefing Saturday, Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for NASA’s Human Operations and Exploration Mission Directorate, said: “Hold on, everybody. We’re going to the moon.”
Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, said the feeling around Kennedy Space Center has become increasingly energetic.
“As we approach our zero hour for the Artemis generation, we have a heightened sense of anticipation and there is certainly excitement among team members,” he said. “We’ve noticed that the overall mood and focus within the team is definitely positive.”
This is a mission that has been going on for over a decade. Former US President Barack Obama announced the SLS rocket in 2010, aiming for a 2016 flight. SLS dates, as well as cost overruns, plagued the giant rocket for years.
However, this is not the first trip for the Orion capsule. It was launched on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014 into orbit around Earth, splashing up just over four hours later.
The Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 5, 2014. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)
But this will be a completely different journey for the capsule. When Orion returned for its test, called EFT-1, it re-entered the atmosphere at about 32,000 km/h. This time, after its 42-day mission, the capsule will be pushed to its limit by reaching a speed of 40,000 km/h, reaching temperatures of up to 2,800 C.
Long term exploration
Everyone on the team is aware that Artemis I is a test: that things could go wrong, but that they will learn from it.
“We are aware that this is a test flight. And we are aware that this is an intentional stress test of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket. It is a new creation. It is a new rocket and it’s a new spacecraft to send humans to the moon on the next flight,” Sarafin said.
“This is something that hasn’t been done in over 50 years and it’s incredibly difficult.”
Artemis II is followed by Artemis III, which will put boots on the ground and, as NASA likes to emphasize, put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface.
The Artemis program is a long-term goal to send humans back to the Moon and beyond. NASA has Mars firmly in its sights. But they don’t plan to do it alone.
Unlike the Apollo missions, this is an international effort. The European Space Agency has provided a service module for the Artemis program, and Canada is providing Canadarm 3 to the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon and serve as an outpost, a sort of starting point for astronauts who they travel to the moon or mars.
“There’s a big, big universe to explore. And this is just the next step in that exploration. And this time we’re going with our international partners,” a NASA administrator said at a briefing on Saturday.
“It’s no longer the Apollo generation, it’s the Artemis generation.”
NASA’s Artemis program is looking at the Moon and then Mars
NASA says the goal of the Artemis program is to one day land on Mars. But first, the space agency needs Artemis missions to land on the moon again.