Cape Canaveral, Fla. – The countdown to NASA’s biggest test flight of the year is set to begin.
Today (Aug. 27) at 10:23 a.m. EDT (1423 GMT), NASA’s countdown clock to the planned launch begins. Artemis 1 missionAn ambitious first flight to the Moon by the agency’s most powerful rocket — the Space Launch System (SLS) – and its Orion spacecraft. The uncrewed test flight is scheduled to lift off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center at 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT) on Monday (Aug. 29).
“This first launch is another step in our constant exploration roadmap The Solar System,” Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, told reporters here Friday at a briefing. You can Watch the Artemis 1 lunar mission launch live online, courtesy of NASA TV. A live webcast will begin Monday at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT).
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission: Live updates
Artemis 1 is NASA’s flagship mission Project ArtemisIt aims to repatriate astronauts the moon Landing the first woman and person of color on the Moon’s south pole by 2025, the first time astronauts have ever seen it with their own eyes. The mission will send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a 42-day journey to orbit the Moon and return to Earth to test if the spacecraft is ready to carry astronauts.
If the mission is successful, NASA will continue it Artemis 2A crewed trip around the moon in 2024 may lead to later Artemis 3 A year later the lunar landing crew. After Artemis 3, NASA says the ultimate goal is to send annual missions to the moon. Gateway Space Station Mission to lunar orbit and then crewed flights tuesday.
There is a 70% chance of fair weather for the Artemis 1 launch, with widespread rain being the main concern. According to NASA (opens in new tab) and the US Space ForceSpace Launch Delta 45 Weather Team. NASA has a two-hour window to launch Artemis 1 to allow for some wiggle room if Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.
Related: Artemis 1: 10 Wild Facts About NASA’s Moon Mission
During the two-day countdown to Artemis 1, NASA rocket controllers will fly the mission’s 322-foot-tall (98 meters) Space Launch System Megarocket and its Orion spacecraft through their final journey. Engineers closed the hatch on the Orion capsule for the last time Thursday (Aug. 25).
On Friday, engineers closed the hatch on the SLS rocket’s launch apart system, which sits atop the Orion spacecraft and the crew’s access arm astronauts will eventually use to board the spacecraft for future missions.
NASA will begin fueling the SLS rocket early Monday morning, according to a NASA blog post at 12 a.m. EDT (0400 GMT). You can watch the event live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. On our Artemis 1 webcast page.
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