NASA's first rocket to return man to the moon was successfully launched

Finally, after a long delay, with the launch of NASA's SLS rocket, the Artemis 1 mission has successfully begun to prepare humans to return to the moon.

With the Artemis program, NASA plans to bring humans back to the moon and have a permanent presence on Earth's only moon. This program is also considered as a platform for testing the space technologies needed to travel to Mars.

Before the human travel to the moon, however, it is necessary to check the launch equipment and spacecraft. For this reason, in the Artemis 1 unmanned mission, the powerful "Space Launch System" (SLS) rocket will send the "Orion" spacecraft into the lunar orbit. They are tested in space, and also considering systems including a special mannequin, there are various investigations on the effect of flying to the moon on the health of astronauts. But due to technical reasons and weather problems, the mission was canceled every time. This time, the start of the launch window was planned at 01:04 am Eastern time zone (09:34 Tehran time), but the hydrogen leak caused a delay of about 45 minutes.

With breath holding in Sine to decide whether to go or not to go, the hydrogen leak in Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B was finally fixed and the investigation by specialized teams led to the mission being carried out in today's launch window. In this way, the SLS rocket will start its historic journey to the moon at 01:47 Eastern time zone (10:17 Tehran time).

Artemis 1 launch visitors
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Although there is no human presence in this mission, Passengers like Snoopy and Sean the Sheep will meet the moon up close. In addition, the names of people from all over the world who signed up for this mission are on a chip with this mission around the moon.

According to the latest status announced by NASA, the Orion spacecraft is now safely on its way. The trip to the moon is on the way, and this is the first major step of the US space agency to return it successfully. Now we have to wait for Orion to reach the moon and other updates on this history-making mission.

Cover photo: The launch of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis 1 mission
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Sources: Space, NASA Space Flight, NASA