NASA launched its Mega Moon rocket. Key things you need to know

It departed Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building around 5:47 p.m. Eastern Time (2147 GMT) and began an 11-hour journey on a crawler-transporter to Holiday Launch Complex 39B, four miles (6.5 kilometers) away.

About 10 thousand people had gathered to see this program.

– Huge rocket, huge cost –

With the Orion crew capsule fixed on top, Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 is 322 feet (98 m) high – taller than the Statue of Liberty, but slightly smaller than the 363 feet Saturn V rocket that powered Apollo Mission to the Moon.

Despite this, it will produce 8.8 million pounds of maximum thrust (39.1 meganewtons), which is 15 percent more than the Saturn V, meaning it has the potential to be the world’s most powerful rocket at the time it starts operating. have hope.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s most powerful rocket ever is right here!” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told a crowd. “We envision, we build, we never stop pushing the envelope of what’s possible.”

The epitome of American space ambition, it also comes with a hefty price tag: $4.1 billion per launch for the first four Artemis missions, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin told Congress this month.

After reaching the launchpad, there are about two weeks’ worth of checks before what’s known as a “wet dress rehearsal.”

The SLS team will load more than 700,000 gallons (3.2 million liters) of cryogenic propellant into the rocket and practice each step of the launch countdown, stopping ten seconds before detonation.

– Moon and beyond –

NASA is targeting May as the earliest window for Artemis-1, an unmanned lunar mission that will be the first integrated flight for the SLS and Orion.

The SLS will first put Orion into low Earth orbit, and then, using its upper stage, in what’s called a trans-lunar injection.

This maneuver is necessary to send Orion 280,000 miles from Earth and 40,000 miles from the Moon – farther than any spacecraft capable of carrying humans.

On its three-week mission, Orion will deploy 10 shoebox-sized satellites known as CubeSats to gather information about the deep space environment.

Its “passengers” will include three mannequins collecting radiation data, and a plush Snoopy toy, longtime NASA’s mascot.

It will travel to the far side of the Moon using thrust provided by a European Space Agency (ESA) thruster, and eventually return to Earth, where its heat shield will be tested against the atmosphere.

Splashdown occurs in the Pacific, off the coast of California.

Artemis-2 will be the first crewed test flight around the Moon but not landing, while Artemis-3, which is planned for 2025, will be the first woman and first person of color to touch down at the lunar South Pole.

NASA wants to make a permanent presence on the Moon, and use it as a proving ground for technologies needed for a Mars mission sometime in the 2030s, using Block 2 development of the SLS.

– SLS vs Starship –

NASA calls SLS the “Super Heavy Lift Exploration Class Vehicle”. The only super heavy rocket currently operating is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, which is smaller.

Elon Musk’s company is also developing its own deep space rocket, the fully reusable Starship, which he says should be ready for an orbital test this year.

The Starship would be both larger and more powerful than the SLS: 394 feet long with 17 million pounds of thrust. It can also be very cheap.

Tycoon suggests that within years, the cost per launch could drop to as low as $10 million.

The direct comparison is complicated by the fact that the SLS is designed to fly directly to their destinations, with SpaceX putting a starship into orbit and then refilling it with another starship so that It could continue its journey, expanding the range and payload.

NASA has also contracted a version of Starship as a lunar descent vehicle for Artemis.

Other super heavy rockets under development include Blue Origin’s New Glenn, China’s Long March 9 and Russia’s Yenisei.