Artemis 1 is Heading to the Moon
Many might be asking what is Artemis 1 and why does it matter?
Artemis 1 is the first planned uncrewed test flight in NASA's Artemis program. Eventually, the plan is to land humans on the Moon again and then head to Mars and this is the program that will do just that. This will be the first time in 50 years that a spacecraft is preparing to make the journey to the moon.
Artemis 1 is scheduled to take off on Monday, August 29, 2022, between 8:33 a.m. ET and 10:33 a.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Flordia. This trip will last about 39 to 42 days and is scheduled to return on October 10, 2022, and will land in the Pacific Ocean.
If for some reason Artemis 1 is unable to launch on Monday then the flight will be rescheduled for Friday, September 2, 2022, at 12:48 pm ET.
Artemis 1 will enter a distant retrograde orbit of the moon and will travel about 40,000 miles beyond it. Artemis II will travel the same trajectory in 2024 but will have a crew on board. Artemis III is scheduled for 2025 and will land on the moon with the first woman as part of the crew.
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If you are wanting to watch the take-off it is a good bet that most major networks will carry the coverage but NASA TV will be streaming the event.
NASA was able to surprise a group of students with an up close and personal look at the Artemis 1 rocket and spacecraft a few days ago. These children got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a rocket before it heads to the moon.