The Artemis 1 space mission hopes to test the Space Launch System rocket as well as the unmanned Orion capsule atop it, in preparation for future trips to the Moon with humans on board.

                        NASA’s Moon rocket as it sits on Pad 39B for the Artemis 1 lunar orbit mission at the Kennedy Space Center, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  There is no new release date scheduled for today.  (AP)

NASA is now targeting Sept. 27 as the earliest possible launch date for an uncrewed Artemis 1 mission to the Moon, the agency said in a blog post Monday. The date will depend on the engineering teams successfully conducting a test to power the Space Launch System rocket and receiving a waiver to avoid retesting the batteries in an emergency flight system used to destroy the rocket if it moves away from the specified range. If it doesn’t get the clearance, the missile will have to be moved back to its assembly building, pushing the schedule back several weeks. For the Sept. 27 date, a “70-minute launch window opens at 11:37 a.m. EDT,” and the mission would end with an ocean dive of the Orion capsule on Nov. 5. A possible next date is coming up on October 2nd. Mission Artemis The Artemis 1 space mission hopes to test the SLS as well as the unmanned Orion capsule atop it, in preparation for future trips to the Moon with humans on board. Once launched, it will take several days for the spacecraft to reach the Moon, flying about 60 miles (100 kilometers) on its closest approach. One of the main goals of the trip is to test the capsule’s heat shield – which at 16 feet (five meters) in diameter is the largest ever built – when the craft re-enters the atmosphere. The next mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts to the Moon without landing on its surface, while the third – planned for the mid-2020s – will see the first woman of color on lunar soil. NASA wants to build a lunar space station called Gateway and maintain a permanent presence on the Moon to gain insight into how to survive very long space missions, before a mission to Mars in the 2030s. Source: AFP