The first launch of the SLS large rocket is the first step in returning humans to the lunar surface in the next decade.
It finally happened. On Monday, August 29, National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will launch for the first time, propelling an unmanned Orion capsule to the moon. This is the crucial first mission of the Artemis Fowl Plan, part of preparations to send an astronaut to the Moon later this decade.
The Artemis Fowl 1 mission is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center, with a two-hour launch window starting at 8:33 a.m. ET on Monday. The 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) SLS rocket will carry the Orion crew module (which included only a mannequin for the first mission) into orbit; from there, Orion will make a 42-day round trip to the Moon.
The event will be broadcast live from National Aeronautics and Space Administration at 6:30 a.m. Mitō Time (7:30 a.m. ET) . You can watch it on NASA’s YouTube channel, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. You can also watch it in the feed below.
The Countdown to the main event, which will be briefed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials, begins at 10:23 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Beginning at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, avid viewers will be able to watch space engineers load the rocket with propellant.
The live broadcast will feature celebrity guests Keke Palmer, Jack Black and Chris Evans, as well as Josh Groban and Herbie Hancock performing the US national anthem. The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma will also play “Beautiful America.”.
The SLS rocket is currently sitting on Launch Pad 39B, equipped with the Orion capsule. During the launch, the SLS will lift the unmanned capsule into orbit, from where it will make its own close flyby to the moon before returning to Earth. In all, Orion will fly 1.3 million miles, spending 42 days in space before landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. One of the mission’s main goals was to test Orion’s heat shield during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere-a much less stressful task when there are no surviving crew members on board.
Although there is no human crew, Orion will take off with three mannequins: Campos, Helga and Zouhar. Campos will don a standard Orion spacesuit and measure vibration, gravity and radiation during the 42-day journey. Helga and Zohar aimed to test the effects of space radiation on women, in particular the increased vulnerability of women to the effects of radiation. Another notable crew member will be Lamb Shawn, or a toy stop-motion character, and a Snoopy Dog Doll, which will be used to represent weightlessness on the ship.
Artemis Fowl one will set the stage for Artemis Fowl two and three. The Artemis 2 is currently planned for a 2024 launch that will send a human crew to the moon, but they will not land on the surface. The main event, Artemis 3, which National Aeronautics and Space Administration hopes to launch by the end of 2025, aims to land a man and a woman on the Moon for the first time since 1972. All of this is in support of a larger project that will eventually send humans to Mars.
