The rocket of NASA Artemis II was launched yesterday for the Moon with a crew of 4 astronauts for the first time after 54 years, in a mission that will last 10 days.
The rocket is now in orbit around the Earth and will continue to move in it until today, when the translunar injection burn will take place, which will send it to the rest of the journey towards the Moon. Inside the Orion capsule, the four astronauts immediately began work to evaluate how the spacecraft responded during ascent.
The aim is for the capsule (which detaches from the rocket) with the 4 astronauts to fly over the farthest side of the Moon at a distance of 407,000 km from Earth, surpassing the record of 1970.
Neil Armstrong in 1969, in the mission Apollo 11, became the first human who set foot on the Moon and generally on a celestial body outside Earth.
“The nation, but also the world, waited a long time to do this again,” stated Reid Wiseman, experienced astronaut of NASA and commander of Artemis II, to journalists at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. The other 3 members are Christina Koch, the first woman who will travel to cislunar space, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen.
There will be no landing on the Moon, however it constitutes a test flight for the mission of 2028 which has as goal the landing.
Sources: New York Times, Guardian
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