The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft are scheduled to lift off between 2:17 and 4:17 p.m. ET Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although there is no crew on board, the mission is the first step in the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon and eventually land them on Mars. There is a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for the launch, with the chance increasing to 80 percent favorable toward the end of the window, meteorologist Melody Lovin said during a news conference Friday morning. If the rocket cannot be launched on Saturday, the next possible launch window will be Monday. Once launched, the Orion spacecraft will enter a distant retrograde orbit of the Moon and travel 40,000 miles beyond it, going farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans. Crews will board Artemis II in a similar orbit in 2024, and astronauts are expected to reach the lunar south pole in late 2025 with the Artemis III mission. The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon. The agency will share live views and coverage in English and Spanish before, during and after the Artemis I launch on its website and on NASA TV. The broadcast will begin at 5:45 am. ET as supercooled propellant is loaded onto the SLS rocket. After launch, NASA will hold a briefing and later Saturday will share the first views of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s cameras. The Virtual Telescope Project will attempt to share live views of Orion on its way to the moon shortly after launch. Orion’s journey will take about 38 days as it travels to the moon, orbits it and returns to Earth — covering 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers). The capsule will launch into the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on October 11. Here’s everything you can expect before, during and after launch.
Countdown to launch
Early Saturday, the launch team will conduct a weather briefing and decide whether to begin fueling the rocket. If all looks good, the team will begin powering the rocket’s core stage and then move on to powering its upper stage. The team will then top off and replenish any liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen spilled during the refueling process. About 50 minutes before launch, NASA’s test manager’s final briefing will take place. The launch director will poll the team to make sure each station is a “go” 15 minutes before liftoff. At 10 minutes in, things kick into high gear as the spaceship and rocket go through the final stages. Much of the action takes place in the last minute as the ground launch sequencer sends the command for the missile flight computer’s automated launch sequencer to take over. In the final seconds, the hydrogen will burn, the four RS-25 engines will start, resulting in booster ignition and lift to T minus zero.
Trip to the moon
The solid rocket boosters will separate from the spacecraft about two minutes after liftoff and launch into the Atlantic Ocean, with other components also launching shortly thereafter. The rocket’s core stage will separate about eight minutes later and fall toward the Pacific, allowing Orion’s solar array wings to deploy. The perigee lift maneuver will occur about 12 minutes after launch, when the temporary cryogenic propulsion stage undergoes a burn to raise Orion’s altitude so it does not re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Shortly after is the interlunar injection burn, when the ICPS increases Orion’s speed from 17,500 miles per hour (28,163 kilometers per hour) to 22,600 miles per hour (36,371 kilometers per hour) to escape Earth’s gravitational pull and start for the moon After this burn, ICPS will separate from Orion. Around 9:45 p.m. ET, Orion will perform its first exit orbit correction burn using the European Service Module, which provides the spacecraft with power, propulsion and thermal control. This maneuver will put Orion on a path toward the moon. In the coming days after launch, Orion will make its way to the moon, coming within 60 miles (96 kilometers) during its closest approach on the sixth day of the trip. The servicer will place Orion into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon on day 10. Orion will also surpass the distance record of 248,654 miles (400,169 kilometers) — set by Apollo 13 in 1970 — on the 10th day it loops around the moon. The spacecraft will reach its maximum distance from Earth of 280,000 miles (450,616 kilometers) on September 23, when it will venture 40,000 miles (64,373 kilometers) beyond the Moon. READ MORE: Artemis A by the numbers That’s 30,000 miles (48,280 kilometers) further than Apollo 13’s record. Orion will make its second closest approach to the lunar surface, coming within 500 miles (804 kilometers) on October 5. The service module will experience a burn that will allow the moon’s gravity to launch Orion back on its way to Earth. Just before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the service module will separate from Orion. The spacecraft will hit the top of Earth’s atmosphere traveling at about 25,000 miles per hour (40,233 kilometers per hour), and its heat shield will reach temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius). The atmosphere will slow Orion to about 300 miles per hour (482 kilometers per hour), and a series of parachutes will slow it to less than 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour) before it blasts off into the Pacific Ocean at 2:10 p.m. . ET on October 11. Splashdown will be streamed live from NASA’s website, with views from 17 cameras on the recovery ship and helicopters awaiting Orion’s return. The landing and recovery team will collect the Orion capsule and data from the spacecraft will determine lessons learned before humans return to the Moon.
