NASA is going back to moon. “We are going”.
That is the slogan NASA is employing to promote the launch of its new moon rocket, which could happen as soon as Monday at 8:33 a.m. Eastern time. Agency representatives frequently use this term, which is also used as a hashtag in social media posts and announced on banners erected around the launch pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Given that it will be several years before humans set foot on the moon and that by that time, NASA will have spent nearly $100 billion, why should it replicate what it did fifty years ago?
Officials from NASA contend that the moon missions are essential to the program for human spaceflight and are not just a repetition of the Apollo moon landings from 1969 to 1972.
That represents a shift from President Barack Obama’s 2010 speech at the site of the American moon landing, where he advocated for NASA to expand beyond the moon and aim for more ambitious destinations like asteroids and Mars.
Today’s program was named Artemis by NASA leaders during the Trump administration. In Greek mythology, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. The program’s first step will be the upcoming test flight of the moon rocket, known as the Space Launch System, with the Orion capsule on top where astronauts will sit during future missions. This uncrewed flight, during which Orion will swing around the moon before returning to Earth, is to wring out any issues with the spacecraft before putting people on board.
The rocket can attempt again on Friday or the following Monday if weather or technical difficulties prevent it from taking off on Monday. On Saturday, weather experts gave a 70% likelihood of good weather for the launch. NASA is going back to moon.
