NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft is launched during the Artemis I flight test. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
The Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft, has finally launched and is on its way to the Moon.
Liftoff took place as scheduled at 1:47 a.m. local time from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The round-trip flight around the Moon gives NASA the opportunity to test integrated systems in a deep-space environment before sending out crewed missions over the next decade. It will also test Orion’s heat shield and how it can recover the crew module after it enters the atmosphere, descends and splashes down.
We are going.
For the first time, the @NASA_SLS rocket and @NASA_Orion fly together. #Artemis I begin a new chapter in human lunar exploration. pic.twitter.com/vmC64Qgft9
—NASA (@NASA) November 16, 2022
The launch of Artemis I was supposed to take place on August 16, two weeks before the originally scheduled date, but it was canceled due to a technical problem with one of the rocket engines. A second attempt, in early September, was postponed due to a hydrogen leak in the fuel line of the SLS rocket’s core stage. Third attempts, in October and November, were blocked by Hurricane Ian and then Hurricane Nicola.
64,000 kilometers to go
As part of the Artemis I mission, the SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft to Earth orbit, where it will fly approximately 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) past the Moon during a four- to six-week mission.
This week, NASA placed its Capstone CubeSat mission into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. This is the orbit in which the Gateway space station will be placed to support Artemis II missions and deep space exploration. This orbit will provide a continuous line of sight to Earth, allowing uninterrupted communication between Earth and the Moon.
About three minutes after liftoff, the service module fairing and launch abort system separated from the Orion spacecraft. The SLS core stage continued to fire until about eight minutes after launch, when it reached low Earth orbit.
At 01:56, the SLS core stage main engine flamed out and the core stage separated from the cryogenic propulsion midstage and the Orion spacecraft. At 2:24 a.m., Orion’s solar arcs were deployed ahead of the “perigee raising maneuver” that raised Orion’s orbit in preparation for the translunar injection that sends Orion to the Moon.
“The perigee elevation maneuver was successful. The cryogenic booster midstage was ignited for just over 20 seconds to raise the lowest point in Orion’s Earth orbit in preparation for the critical translunar injection burn that will send Orion to the moon. The burn for the trans-lunar injection is currently scheduled for approximately 3:14 a.m. EST and will last approximately 18 minutes,” NASA’s Rachel Kraft said in an update.
A well-orchestrated take-off
NASA gave a final update at 3:44 a.m. ahead of the post-launch press conference scheduled for 5 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center.
“The intermediate cryogenic propulsion stage has completed its approximately 18-minute translunar injection burn (TLI) and the spacecraft has separated from the stage,” wrote Rachel Kraft. “Orion has fired its auxiliary thrusters to get away a safe distance from the exhausted stage and the spacecraft is on its way to the Moon. »
At that time, Orion separated from the upper stage of SLS and began flying with ESA’s European service module, the NASA administrator said. Jim Free on Twitter.
“We will rely on the service module for the rest of our burns to keep us on track,” he said.
—Jim Free (@JimFree) November 16, 2022
Source: ZDNet.com