The powerful SLS rocket and its summit Orion capsule wait for the countdown to end before it takes off from Cape Canaveral, Florida (United States) this Monday and embarks on a historic unmanned journey to the Moon, Earth’s receiving satellite. This is one such visit since the end of NASA’s Apollo program.

If all goes as planned, at 8:33 am (12:33 GMT) local time, the rocket will launch from platform 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. And the Artemis I mission will embark on a six-week journey that reaches more than 450,000 kilometers from Earth before embarking on a return journey that will culminate in the Pacific Ocean.

Celebrities such as actors Jack Black and Chris Evans, as well as Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris, are expected to launch this mission. This is the starting signal for NASA’s Artemis program, where it opens a new chapter in space exploration, marked by the establishment of a moon base and sending a crew to Mars.

Artemis took over the last mission from the Apollo program, when Apollo 17 took place in 1972, representing the last time humans landed on the lunar surface.

It’s an absence NASA wants to end when the Artemis III mission lands on Earth’s moon in 2025. And he does it with the first woman and the first black man to travel to the Moon.

Beyond the Moon, where no other spacecraft has gone, says NASA

Named after the twin sister of the god Apollo, this program will send its first manned mission, Artemis II, in 2024. This will do the same route its predecessor will take from Monday.

“It will revolutionize space exploration,” he said. ef Spanish and NASA scientist Carlos García Galán is head of the Orion spacecraft’s European Service Module Integration Office. This is after emphasizing that one of the goals of the Artemis program is to “develop technology and knowledge to work in deep space”.

“People will see the first woman and man of color to land on the Moon. Things we’ve never done and will leave decades of inspiration,” he stressed.

During the 42-day mission, NASA aims to test the 98-meter-high SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. As García Galán said, it’s powered by four RS-25 engines and two attached propellers, offering 15% more power than the Saturn rocket used on the Apollo missions.

Similarly, the capabilities of the Orion ship, which can fit four crew members, will be measured, that is, one more than Apollo. And with water and oxygen reserves that would allow him to travel independently for about 20 days.

Two hours after launch on Monday, August 29, and after leaving the SLS rocket, Orion will continue alone on a total journey of approximately 2.1 million kilometers.

The ship’s return is expected on 10 October.

The spacecraft will fly near the Moon, about 62 miles (almost 100 km) from its surface, and then enter a distant lunar orbit where it will be more than 61,000 kilometers from Earth’s satellite. That is, as long as no other crew capsules go.

After returning, on October 10, Orion awaits another grueling test, such as the successful descent from the coast of San Diego in California (United States), supported by eleven parachutes, and where he will have to slow down dizzyingly. The speed at which it will reach the Earth’s atmosphere at 40,000 km/h is a moment when it will withstand temperatures up to 2,760 degrees Celsius.

According to expert media, NASA will wait for the completion of this mission, which includes a $4,000 million investment to promote the astronauts that make up the crew of the Artemis II mission.

The first three missions of this program will provide new information about the Moon. As well as the effects on human physiology produced by long periods in space when considering long-range missions to the so-called “red planet”.

“The ultimate destination is Mars,” said García Galán.