Tag: nasa moon rocket

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NASA’s mightiest rocket lifts off 50 years after Apollo

NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard early Wednesday. NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard early Wednesday, bringing the U.S. a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago.If all goes well during the three-week, make-or-break shakedown flight, the rocket will propel an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the moon, and then the capsule will return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific in December. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Center on 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust and hi...
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NASA moon rocket: From Hitchhikers, Moonship to crew capsule, all explained

NASA has kicked off its new moon program with a test flight of a brand-new rocket and capsule. NASA has kicked off its new moon program with a test flight of a brand-new rocket and capsule. Liftoff, which was slated for early Wednesday morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, went off successfully. The test flight has sent an empty crew capsule into a far-flung lunar orbit, 50 years after NASA's famed Apollo moonshots.The project is years late and billions over budget. The price tag for the test flight: more than $4 billion. A rundown of the new rocket and capsule, part of NASA's Artemis program, named after Apollo's mythological twin sister: ROCKET POWERAt 322 feet (98 meters), the new rocket is shorter and slimmer than the Saturn V rockets that hurled 24 Apollo astronauts to t...
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NASA Launches Massive Artemis I Rocket in First Step Toward Return to Moon

NASA launched its most powerful rocket in 50 years early Wednesday, sending an uncrewed capsule skyward on a 25-day mission to orbit the moon and return safely to Earth. NASA launched its most powerful rocket in 50 years early Wednesday, sending an uncrewed capsule skyward on a 25-day mission to orbit the moon and return safely to Earth.The agency's Space Launch System rocket, with an Orion capsule perched atop it, cleared its Kennedy Space Center launchpad on the Florida coast just after takeoff at 1:48 a.m. local time, its four main engines and twin solid boosters lighting up the night sky.  The mission, called Artemis I, marks the inaugural flight of both the SLS rocket and the Orion crew capsule. And it kicks off NASA's multi-mission Artemis program, which is focused on sending a...
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NASA Artemis program: Humanity’s Baby Steps From Moon And On To Mars

The Artemis program is NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone for an eventual voyage to Mars. The Artemis program is NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone for an eventual voyage to Mars.Twelve men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972 and one of the goals of Artemis is to put the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface. The first test flight of an uncrewed Artemis rocket is to take place on Wednesday. The name Artemis was chosen to echo that of the Apollo program.Artemis, in Greek mythology, was the twin sister of Apollo and a goddess associated with the Moon.Here is an overview of the Artemis program:- Artemis 1: test flight -Artemis 1 is a test flight of the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and the Orion cre...
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NASA: Moon rocket endured hurricane, set for 1st test flight

NASA's moon rocket needs only minor repairs after enduring a hurricane at the pad and is on track for its first test flight next week, a top official said Friday. NASA's moon rocket needs only minor repairs after enduring a hurricane at the pad and is on track for its first test flight next week, a top official said Friday.“Right now, there's nothing preventing us" from attempting a launch on Wednesday, said NASA's Jim Free, an associate administrator. The wind never exceeded the rocket's design limits as Hurricane Nicole swept through Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, according to Free. But he acknowledged if the launch team had known in advance that a hurricane was going to hit, they likely would have kept the rocket indoors. The rocket was moved out to the pad late last week for i...
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NASA sticks to plan to launch Moon rocket Wednesday

NASA said Friday it plans to attempt its long-delayed uncrewed mission to the Moon as scheduled next Wednesday. NASA said Friday it plans to attempt its long-delayed uncrewed mission to the Moon as scheduled next Wednesday, after inspections revealed only minor damage from Hurricane Nicole's passage through Florida.Jim Free, a senior official at the US space agency, told journalists there was "nothing preventing" a launch on that date, and said that NASA teams had managed to access the launch pad on Thursday. The launch of the heavy lift rocket, the most powerful ever built by contractors for NASA, is now due to take place at 01:04am local time (0604 GMT) on Wednesday, with a possible launch window of two hours. The uncrewed mission, dubbed Artemis 1, will bring the United States a s...
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NASA Artemis moon rocket damaged by Hurricane Nicole

Free said that NASA teams employing cameras at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center found “very minor damage" on Artemis rocket. After initial visual inspections, NASA said on Thursday that its new mega moon rocket apparently suffered no major damage after Hurricane Nicole hit Florida. But employees must conduct further checks on site as soon as possible to confirm the initial assessment, said Jim Free, associate administrator at the US space agency. Free said that NASA teams employing cameras at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center found "very minor damage such as loose caulk and tears in weather coverings." Nicole made landfall Wednesday night on Florida's Atlantic Coast as a Category 1 hurricane. Free said wind sensors detected gusts up to 82 miles (132 kilometers) per...
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NASA’s Moon Rocket Exposed to Potential Hurricane on Launchpad

As Tropical Storm Nicole barrels toward Florida’s East Coast, a $4 billion NASA rocket remains on a launchpad at Kennedy Space Center, where it will ride out the approaching storm. As Tropical Storm Nicole barrels toward Florida's East Coast, a $4 billion NASA rocket remains on a launchpad at Kennedy Space Center, where it will ride out the approaching storm.Nicole is intensifying and is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, potentially putting the huge Space Launch System rocket at risk. NASA estimates that the SLS can withstand wind gusts of up to 85 mph (74 knots), as well as sustained winds of 46 mph (40 knots). The agency still aims to launch the rocket and uncrewed Orion capsule to the moon on Nov. 14, the first of the agency's Artemis missions, though it's uncle...
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NASA Artemis Moon rocket launch delayed again, this time by storm

NASA again rescheduled its long-delayed uncrewed mission to the Moon on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Nicole churned toward the east coast of Florida, officials said. NASA again rescheduled its long-delayed uncrewed mission to the Moon on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Nicole churned toward the east coast of Florida, officials said.A launch attempt, which had been scheduled for November 14, will now take place on November 16, Jim Free, a senior official at the US space agency, said on Twitter. It is the third delay of the highly-anticipated launch in as many months. "Our people are the most important aspect of our mission," wrote Free, who is NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development. "Adjusting our target launch date for #Artemis I prioritizes employee safety and all...
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Hurricane threat prompts NASA to delay next launch attempt of moon rocket

NASA will batten down its big new moon rocket on the launch pad to ride out a hurricane expected to hit near Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA will batten down its big new moon rocket on the launch pad to ride out a hurricane expected to hit near Cape Canaveral, Florida, and its targeted liftoff time next week has been postponed by two days, the U.S. space agency said on Monday. Kennedy Space Center lies near the middle of a 240-mile stretch of Florida's Atlantic shore, where forecasters say Tropical Storm Nicole is most likely to strike Wednesday night or early Thursday as a category 1 hurricane. As of Tuesday night, Nicole was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 kph) and gaining force as it headed for the northern Bahamas en route to Florida, the Miami-based ...