NASA successfully launched Artemis 1 at 06:47 a.m. GMT on the 16th of November 2022, from the Kennedy Space Center. Artemis 1 is the first part of the Artemis Program, which aims to send humans to the Moon again. The mission used the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to thrust the deep space exploration system-the Orion spacecraft-up to the Moon.

The mission was uncrewed, but all other factors were identical to what astronauts will use to go to the Moon in subsequent missions of the Artemis Program. The spacecraft will travel for 14 days to reach the Moon’s orbit, after which it will ‘slingshot’ around the Moon and return to the Earth after 12 more days. 

Image from Artemis 1 in space, NASA

It has been half a century since human civilization sent humans to the Moon-in 1972, the Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped on the Moon for the last time. After that, due to political and economic reasons, no more manned journey to the Moon was planned. However, the Artemis Program was initiated in 2017 to more effectively organize government, private industry, and international efforts toward returning humans to the Moon, and laying the foundation of eventual human exploration of Mars.

Artemis program is significant in proposing to us the possibility that space exploration is no longer a risky venture but a tangible way that can extend human civilization into the realm of outer space.

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/moontomars/index.html

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