NASA's historic Artemis I rocket launch: Watch live on Saturday. Read the details

NASA has scheduled the Artemis I rocket launch on Saturday, September 3, at 2.17 pm Florida time (around 11.47 pm Indian time). For NASA, it is the second attempt at the mission and a particularly significant one, given the earlier setback on August 29. Technical issues with the rocket's engines forced NASA to abort the first launch attempt.

NASA programme managers at the Kennedy Space Centre, Cape carnival, Florida, expect the two-hour launch window on Saturday to have favorable weather conditions. However, the project team is ready with a backup plan for Monday.

Billions of Dollars at Stake

The development of the SLS and Orion took more than a decade. Industry sources estimate the costs to have reached almost $37 billion.

The Artemis Programme

The Artemis I mission is the first voyage for the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp, respectively, in close collaboration with NASA.

The uncrewed test flight is programmed to set Orion around the moon and back on a 37-day flight. The September 3 launch is NASA's first of the two Artemis programs in preparations to land space travelers back on the lunar surface by 2025.

The Journey of Artemis 1

Artemis 1 is expected to reach the last layer of the earth's atmosphere in about 8 minutes. The outermost layer is around 161 km from the earth's surface.

The rocket's engine will consume about 90k gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel in this stage (up to the outermost surface), and then the rocket's core will fall off into the Pacific Ocean. The total journey distance will be around 2.1 million km.

FAQs

Why did NASA have to call off the first launch of Artemis 1?
Close to the launch date, NASA detected the malfunctioning of one of the engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) and had to cancel the launch.

Why is the mission named Artemis?
Artemis is the goddess of the moon. She is the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology. You may recall that NASA named the first space programme to take humans to the moon, Apollo.