By Marcus Suner

Fifty years after the final Apollo mission in 1972, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) “successfully” launched Artemis I at Kennedy Space Center in Florida last Wednesday,  November 16, 2022, at 2:04 PM (GMT+8). 

Expected to last around 25 days, the mission is the first integrated test of all three of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the newly-renovated Kennedy Space Center. 

Under the Artemis program, this first flight will conduct a lunar flyby, reaching a record distance for any human-rated craft of more than 450,000 kilometers beyond Earth, around 50,000 kilometers more than the previous record held by Apollo 13, marked at 400,170 kilometers.

Primary Mission Objectives

According to NASA, the following are the mission’s four main objectives: 

1. Demonstrate the Orion capsule’s heat shield capabilities and heat conditions from lunar velocities; 
2. Demonstrate operations and facilities during all mission phases; 
3. Retrieve Orion after splashdown; and 
4. Accomplish additional flight test objectives.

With the launching of Artemis I, experts are given the opportunity to test and evaluate aspects of NASA’s launch facilities and land infrastructure, support systems, SLS operations, rocket separation events, Orion space operations with the European Service Module, and recovery procedures.

Moreover, this mission will also allow NASA to demonstrate its recovery capabilities and procedures, critical for the final leg of future missions to be crewed by astronauts.

The Artemis I rocket was originally scheduled to launch on August 29; however, it was canceled due to a malfunction on one of the first-stage engines. 

It was then rescheduled to launch on September 3, but an internal fuel leak occurred during the fueling of the rocket, forcing NASA to scrap the launch again.

The Orion capsule is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022, traveling an estimated 2.1 million kilometers from the start of its journey.

Images used: Artemis I Launch

Thumbnail from NASA