The rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida. TheArtemis 2 mission was launched from the same spaceport in Florida from where Apollo crews were once sent to the Moon.
Landing in two years
It is also the first manned flight of NASA’s new lunar rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), Euronews specifies.
Unlike the Apollo 8 crew in 1968, they will not orbit the moon. The ship will fly past it, go about 6,400 kilometers farther, then turn around and head back to Earth. The mission will end with a landing in the Pacific Ocean.
Unlike the Apollo program, whose task was a quick victory in the lunar race with the Soviet Union, the Artemis program is designed for a long-term presence on the Moon. Its goal is to establish a permanent base there, which will be the starting point for further expeditions.
The mission will last about 10 days and should pave the way for a human landing on the Moon in 2028.
Competing with China
The current phase of the U.S. lunar program is often seen as part of a rivalry with China, which plans to land a man on the moon by 2030.
At the same time, the announced landing date – 2028 – raises doubts among many experts, including because NASA largely depends on the technological progress of private companies.
