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Artemis 1 mission to the Moon: how to follow the launch live?

Man hasn’t set foot on the Moon since 1972, but today, Monday August 29, 2022, NASA is set to launch the first stage of the mission which aims to get people back there within a few years. .

NASA SLS Orion
Space Launch System (SLS) rocket / Credit: NASAA

Fifty years after the last humans walked on the moon, humanity now wants to return. After some political quarrels, technological and above all bureaucratic difficulties, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission should finally be launched this Monday, August 29.

The giant rocket Space Launch System (SLS) must take off from launch pad 39B at the NASA complex at Cape Canaveral, in Florida. On board will be an unmanned Orion spacecraft, designed to eventually carry up to six astronauts to the Moon, and possibly later to Mars. However, it is expected that SpaceX will ensure the next flights with its new Starship rocket.

How to follow the takeoff of the rocket live?

  • When was the launch : this Monday, August 29, 2022
  • What time will the live start : between 2:33 p.m. and 4:33 p.m. (French time)
  • How to watch the conference : here on the site using the YouTube video just above
  • How long is the live : many hours

The launch window for the Artemis 1 mission is located between 2:33 p.m. and 4:33 p.m. French time. The weather conditions are likely 80% favorable at the start of the launch window and should drop to 60% by the end, Melody Lovin, the US Space Force’s launch meteorologist, said Sunday. So NASA is more likely to try to get its rocket off the ground. as soon as the launch window opens.

Of the Back-up launch dates are available September 2 and 5. Some 100,000 people are expected on the Florida Space Coast for the launch, eager to see NASA write a new chapter in the history of human space exploration.

Also read: NASA wants to install a Wi-Fi network on the Moon

What do we know about the Artemis 1 mission?

This mission of 42 days unmanned will test the capabilities of the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, as well as the readiness and safety of the Orion spacecraft, which is designed to send humans into space. If the passenger list does not include humans, there will still be passengers: three mannequins and a Snoopy plush.

The models, named Commander Moonkin Campos, Helga and Zohar, measure deep space radiation that future crews could undergo and will test a new armor suit and technology. On board Orion, there is even a biological experiment on seeds, algae, fungi and yeasts to measure the reaction of life to these radiations.

The spacecraft will enter low Earth orbit before the rocket’s upper stage fires up to bring it into translunar orbit. The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to pick up speed and propel itself 70,000 km beyond the Moon, nearly half a million km from Earth, farther than any human has ever traveled. On its return trip, Orion will make another flyby of the Moon before returning to Earth.

During his mission, Orion will launch ten small satellites called CubeSats for scientific and commercial purposes. They will be used to study different areas of the Moon, study the sustainability of spacecraft use, and even send a spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid.

This inaugural mission of the Artemis program will kick off a new phase of space exploration which will aim to land new astronaut crews in previously unexplored regions of the Moon and build a base there, before culminating in crewed missions to Mars. Crews will board Artemis II on a trajectory similar to Artemis 1 in 2024, and the first woman and next man to land on the Moon are expected to arrive at the lunar South Pole at the end of 2025 during the Artemis III mission.

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