NASA is finally set to launch its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket after years of delay. If everything goes well, the massive rocket will take off on its first journey, the Artemis I mission on 29 August. It will be the first major test of NASA’s plan to return the people to the land of the moon in the year 2025.
Accordingly, SLS will carry Orion to an altitude under 4000 kilometres before the two craft separate and the rocket falls on Earth. Afterwards, Orion will be continuing towards the moon, where it will spend six days in orbit before coming back home. The mission will last till 42 days.
The rocket was taken on its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 17 August and it passed a flight readiness review on 22 August.
The Space Launch System is an American super heavy launch vehicle developed by NASA since 2011. It is the most powerful rocket ever built, producing more force than even the Saturn V rocket which was launched by the Apollo astronauts to the moon. With Orion on top of it, the rocket is nearly 100 metres tall in height.
