Return to the Moon. Nasa launch set to be first step in new lunar mission
Nasa is set to launch its new Moon rocket tomorrow, marking the next chapter in sending humans back to the lunar surface.
The flight is the first in the agency’s Artemis programme and will be uncrewed this time. However, the first crewed flight into space is scheduled for 2024. Nasa expects the first Artemis astronauts to land on the Moon in 2025.
The Artemis 1 mission, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will see the first blast-off of the new 322ft tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which the agency says is the world’s most powerful rocket to date.
It will take the Orion capsule, powered by the Airbus-built European Service Module (ESM), into the Moon’s orbit. Airbus engineer Sian Cleaver is industrial manager for the ESM, and as a child dreamt about being involved in spaceflight before getting a master’s degree in physics and astronomy from Durham University. She said: “I’m ridiculously excited, and I think everybody on the team is.”
Libby Jackson, of the UK Space Agency, said: “The Artemis programme marks the next chapter of human space exploration.”