Washington, April 1 NASA is set to launch four astronauts on a landmark mission around the moon on Wednesday evening, marking the first human journey beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
The Artemis II mission, with a launch window opening at 6:24 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, will send the crew on an approximately 10-day trip around the moon and back.
The flight is being billed as the highest-stakes mission for NASA in decades and a critical step toward returning humans to deep space.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Fueling operations for the 32-storey Space Launch System rocket began earlier in the day, with more than 700,000 gallons of propellant required before liftoff.
Tensions had been high during preparations, following earlier hydrogen leaks that forced delays in testing.
If successful, Artemis II will be the first time astronauts travel toward the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The mission will not include a lunar landing. Instead, the Orion spacecraft will carry the crew around the far side of the moon before returning to Earth, testing life-support, navigation and other systems in deep space.
After liftoff, Orion will separate from the rocket’s upper stage and perform a “translunar injection” burn, committing it to a trajectory toward the moon. The spacecraft will travel for several days, loop around the far side of the Moon, and then begin its return journey.
Re-entry will be one of the most challenging phases. Orion is expected to hit Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour, facing temperatures of around 5,000 degrees before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
During the mission, astronauts will evaluate spacecraft performance, practise emergency procedures and capture images of the moon’s far side.
The crew also represents several historic firsts. The mission includes the first woman, the first African-American astronaut and the first Canadian to travel toward the moon.
Artemis II is being positioned as the opening step in NASA’s broader plan to establish a sustained human presence on the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.
The Artemis programme follows the Apollo missions, which sent 24 astronauts to the moon between 1968 and 1972, including 12 who walked on its surface.
NASA aims to build on that legacy with a long-term lunar base and future missions targeting the moon’s south pole later this decade, before pushing onward to Mars.
--IANS
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