Thousands of tourists travel to the American city of Miami, state of Floridato watch the launch of the megarocket to the Moon called the Space Launch System (SLS)considered “the newest of the POT Y the most powerful in the world“, which will take off this Monday from the Kennedy Space Center.
This is a test flight of the 98-meter rocket and the Orion capsule on top to ensure that astronauts can be transported safely in the future.
Mannequins equipped with sensors will take the place of the future crew members and will record the levels of vibration, acceleration and radiation, the AFP agency reported.
Orion will orbit the Moon before falling into the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities expect between 100,000 and 200,000 visitors to attend for the launch.
The US aerospace agency seeks to bring by 2025 “the first woman and first person of color“, as reported by NASA.
⏰ There’s little left!
This Monday, August 29, at 8:33 am ETD (13:33 UTC) the launch window for #Artemis YO.
We will offer you all the details of our return to the Moon in a live broadcast and in Spanish (7:30 am EDT).
➡️ https://t.co/tmrvczFaHg pic.twitter.com/CbvbNnysV8— NASA in Spanish (@NASA_es) August 27, 2022
“The mission that it will take off on monday it is part of a larger NASA program and marks the return to the Moon after more than 50 years,” Pablo de León, an Argentine scientist at that US agency from North Dakota, where he directs the Space Flight Laboratory, explained to Télam. Manned.
The Artemis program includes the construction of a space station called Gateway, which will orbit the Moon.
One of the tourists who traveled from the north of England with her husband and two children for a space-themed holiday, Joanne Bostandji, which is “an experience of a lifetime”.
Traffic jams are expected from 04:00 (05:00 in Argentina), with the launch scheduled for 08:33 (09:33 in Argentina).
According to the weather report published by NASA this Sunday on its Twitter account, 80% chance of favorable weather conditions anticipated for launch this Monday, while the main concern is scattered rain.
The hotels on the coast have been full for several weeks, and parking spaces near the best viewpoints are limited.
Sabrina Morley, a tourist who was able to rent an apartment not far from the beach and will go with her two children and a few dozen other people on a boat chartered for the occasion by the Star Fleet Tours company, said that for $95 a ticket, “We will go out into the ocean as close to launch as possible and watch the liftoff from the ship.”
It took 50 years since the last time a man walked on the Moon, in 1972, for NASA to create the continuation of the Apollo program and named it Artemis in honor of Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon, hunting and nature in Greek mythology.
Due to this fact, some tourists who will attend the event are nostalgic for what happened during the 70’s in aerospace.
“My family had to go to the neighbor’s house to watch (the Apollo missions) because they didn’t have a television,” said Bostandji, who was not yet born.
“Now we’re going to see it, hopefully, live,” he enthused.
In relation to the project, De León, who has been a NASA researcher for more than 30 years, stated that “this program will allow test the technologies that will serve for the manned exploration of Marswhich is the other great objective”.
The researcher commented that “there is a lot of expectation, but there is also concern because NASA has not done this type of deep space mission for a long time and such a large rocket has not been launched.”
Only in 2024 is the first manned mission with four astronauts expected, Artemis II, which will orbit the Moon, but without landing.
The composition of the crew will be announced before the end of the year and is expected to include a Canadian, who would become the first to enter deep space.
Also, it is expected to be Artemis III the mission that achieves the return of the human being to the Moon in 2025when four other astronauts land on the uncharted surface of the lunar south pole.
It will be the first to put astronauts on the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Between 1969 and 1972, 12 men walked on the Moon.
NASA chose Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX to build the lander for Artemis 3.
The ultimate goal of the Artemis program is what NASA calls the “next big leap: human exploration of Mars.”
NASA will use the knowledge gained from Artemis about space suits, vehicles, propulsion, resupply and other areas to prepare for a trip to Mars.
The goal, they said, is to learn how to maintain a human presence in deep space for an extended period.
In addition, the plan includes the creation of a “base camp” on the Moon that allows astronauts to stay for up to two months.
