Ok, that’s true there are still a few weeks to utter such a phrase (if this continues, of course, this protocol may have become obsolete decades ago) when it was confirmed that all systems were working properly and that the Artemis I mission could be launched, kicking off NASA’s most ambitious program. recent decades, and that it is also for not one but two reasons.

The first is of course that Artemis is a program that aims to return a human being to the moon. Next December it will be 50 years since Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt stepped onto our natural satellite while Ronald Evans orbited the Moon awaiting his return to the Command and Service Module. Since then, and although the original plans for space exploration were much more ambitious, the truth is that the Apollo XVII mission marked the end of the program (except for the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission, the first cooperation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the space race).

Finally It will be 50 years before humans step on the moon again.but at least we’ll live the date with the hope that Artemis will follow in his footsteps and sooner rather than later we’ll be able to see images as impressive as those of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descending the moon ladder again. module to leave a temporary but indelible mark on the surface of the Moon in the memory of those who lived through it.

The second reason Artemis, and more precisely Artemis I, is a milestone for the US space agency is that It will be the long-awaited debut of the Space Launch System (SLS)a NASA project that the agency has been working on for more than a decade, and which, when completed, will return the ability to launch into space without having to depend on third parties, as was the case for many years with the Russian space agency and, more recently, with SpaceX.

And the good news is that while pre-launch checks are still ongoing, basically everything would be set up for the same thing. The launch is therefore scheduled for 2:33 on August 29 Peninsular Spain Time, taking advantage of the first of a series of windows that will occur in those days. So if weather or other issues cause a launch delay, there are more opportunities to launch in September, on the 2nd and 5th of that month.

The SLS launch will take place at Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and as the SLS payload the Orion crew capsule will be found (this time filled with dummies to collect data) that will conduct a 42-day mission in lunar orbit to collect data. After completing its mission, it will return to Earth, where it is expected to impact the ocean on October 10.

«As NASA’s first Artemis I launch attempt approaches, teams are moving ahead of schedule to complete final inspections and shutdowns of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA wrote in an update.

«Crews are retracting the VAB platforms that provide access to the rocket and spacecraft after engineers finished installing heat blankets on the temporary cryogenic propulsion stage around the launch vehicle stage adapter. Technicians also replaced the flight door on the engine section of the rocket’s base stage. Final checks have been completed on these sections and they are ready for flight.«.