Initially, the launch was planned to take place in the summer, but NASA specialists first encountered a hydrogen leak in one of the engines. Then several hurricanes hit FloridaNEW YORK, November 16.
/tass/. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched the Space Launch System (SLS) superheavy launch vehicle with the Orion spacecraft as part of the first stage of the Artemis lunar program. The broadcast is conducted on the NASA website.
The launch of the rocket took place from the site of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 01:47 local time (09:47 Moscow time). The unmanned flight of the spacecraft is expected to last 26 days. Orion should make two orbits around the Moon, and then return to Earth and land in the Pacific Ocean. There will be three mannequins on board Orion, which are used, in particular, to measure radiation levels during the flight.
Initially, the launch was planned to take place in the summer, but NASA specialists first encountered a hydrogen leak in one of the rocket engines. Then several hurricanes hit the state of Florida. This forced NASA specialists to return the rocket, which has been assembled since 2021, to the hangar to protect it from the weather.
NASA announced in the spring of 2019 that the astronaut landing program on the Moon, called Artemis, includes three stages. The first is the launch into space of the Orion spacecraft using the new Space Launch System launch vehicle, which will make several orbits around the Moon in unmanned mode and return to Earth. The second is a flyby of a natural satellite of the Earth already with a crew on board. At the third stage in 2025, NASA expects to deliver astronauts to the Moon, and then send them to Mars in the mid-2030s.
