As this is a complex challenge, steps are being taken gradually in the NASA plans approved during the presidency of Donald Trump for a human being to re-enter the moon. Symbolically, it all begins in 2022, the 50th anniversary of the last such event, the Apollo XVII mission. What at the time seemed to point to a prominent space race suddenly ran out of budget and went into a slumber that has lasted almost half a century.

In my opinion (which is just a personal opinion), fifty years are wasted50 years in which great progress could have been made in space exploration. During all these decades, many satellites have been put into orbit, but everything that has been launched from low orbit has been exceptional (rare). I think I’ve mentioned this on another occasion, but I think this video from spreader Martí Montferrero, better known as CdeCiencia, sums up my point perfectly:

Be that as it may, the past doesn’t move the mill, so instead of continuing to look back and think about what could have been but wasn’t, it’s time to focus our attention on the present and the near future, because the US space agency’s Artemis program gives us in this respect he returned the illusion. It is not yet clear that the “shoes on the moon” milestone will occur before the end of this decade, but at least progress is being made in this direction.

A key step, as we told you a few weeks ago, is the launch of Artemis I, scheduled for next Monday the 29th, which will mark the long-awaited debut of the Space Launch System (SLS), the launch vehicle that will return NASA has lost autonomy since the suspension of the space shuttle program . We are talking about A 42-day mission in lunar orbit to collect data.

With everything ready to go, barring a last minute surprise, now everything depends on the weather on the day of the startor and in the last few days there has been some pessimism in this regard because the conditions have not been ideal. And today we already have an estimate about it, Currently, the mission has a 70% chance that conditions are acceptable, according to the 45th Weather Squadron, which provides detailed evaluations for air and space operations in the United States.

We’ll have to wait for that closer forecast, but let’s remember that in case the launch cannot happen on Monday, other optimal launch windows have already been identified, the other days of September 2nd and 5th. However, and after waiting so long, do you really want it done as soon as possible?