Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission has been cleared for launch on Monday 29 August 2022. The mission is the first in a programme of launches that will return people to the moon “this time to stay”. The mission will also mark the furthest a human-rated spacecraft has ever been from Earth, at over 400,000km.
Although the humans will not ride on this initial launch, it will be a significant test. Artemis 1 will be the debut of the SLS rocket, the most powerful engine built by human hands since the mighty Saturn V which first propelled people to the moon in 1969.
The SLS will ascend to orbit and then, as the boosters and first stages of the rocket fall back to Earth, the main payload, the Orion spacecraft will be released. It will orbit Earth while deploying its solar arrays, then it will perform a trans-lunar injection sending it towards the Moon. Orion will be the craft that eventually returns people to the Moon on Artemis 2, perhaps as early as 2024. But for Artemis 1 it will just orbit the Moon before returning to Earth.
During the mission the craft will also eject ten 200 x 100 x 350mm ‘cube sats’. These small satellites can perform experiments and reconnaissance, for example to detect water and other resources on the moon.
