NASA is poised to launch its most powerful rocket yet Monday, five decades after the final flight of the U.S. space agency’s legendary Saturn 5 moon rocket.
NASA’s Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the moon. The lunar exploration campaign will start with the uncrewed Artemis I mission, with the rocket set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday morning.
Noah Petro, a planetary geologist for NASA, said the spacecraft will orbit the moon multiple times for six weeks before returning to Earth.
“What Artemis 1 will do, when it is successful, is allow us to start planning for putting crew members onto this rocket. Launching them to orbit the moon, first on Artemis II in 2024 then getting crew members onto the surface of the moon in 2025,” Petro said Friday. “This is going to be that kind of wake-up call, like, ‘Hey, we’re doing this. We’re sending humans back to the moon.’ We’re going to have astronauts walk on the surface of the moon for the first time since December 1972. So, let’s get on board.”
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Several aerospace and manufacturing companies have contributed to the upcoming mission, according to NASA. A number are based in North Texas, including Circuit Systems Company, Inc. in Arlington. General Manager Patrick Kaler said they produce bonding straps and jumpers for commercial and military aircraft.
“The parts we’re partnered through Boeing or Lockheed, probably Boeing aircraft, is on the launch tower,” Kaler said, referring to Monday’s launch. “We demand attention to detail from our technicians. When you think of production, you think of speed. Well, that comes with familiarity. First, we need quality.”
The Apollo program ended in 1972 with Apollo 17 when astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the last humans to set foot on the lunar surface. Petro said the goal of the program was to land humans on the moon and return home.
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Artemis goes further, he said.
“What Artemis wants to do is not just that goal -- humans on the moon, returning them safely on the Earth -- but doing it over extended periods of time,” he said. “Monday could be a day that slightly shifts the course of human history on that path, to not only living on the moon but also having humans on Mars.”
Petro added a successful trip for Artemis I will be one that can yield new findings and ideas for improvements in the program.
“We will learn from the moon. We will do science on the moon,” he said. “We will bring rocks back, but we also want to use the moon and use its volatiles, its resources to contribute to that sustained presence, so we don’t have to bring everything with us from the earth to live on the surface.”
NASA is aiming for an Aug. 29 liftoff for the lunar test flight out of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Currently, T-0 is set for 8:33 a.m. ET. Pad 39B will host. Get full details of how to watch the launch here.
