NASA launches Moon rocket Artemis

• NASA’s new Moon rocket blasts off on its inaugural mission with three test dummies on board.
• The 32-story rocket will launch an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the Moon.
• The three-week shakedown flight is scheduled to begin in December.

NASA’s new Moon rocket launched on its inaugural mission with three test dummies on board, bringing the US one step closer to landing astronauts on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago.

If all goes well during the three-week shakedown flight, the 32-story rocket will launch an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the Moon before splashing down in the Pacific in December.

The launch began the space agency’s Artemis program. Wednesday morning, NASA tweeted, “We’re off!”

After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket rose from Kennedy Space Center on 8 million pounds of power and touched 100mph in seconds.

Two hours into the flight, the Orion capsule was set to leave Earth’s orbit for the Moon.

Three months of fuel leakage kept the rocket hopping between its hangar and pad. The U.S. space agency plugged a leak while fueling the rocket for a midnight launch.

NASA expects 15,000 attendees at Kennedy Space Center for the launch, with thousands more outside.

Andrew Trombley of St. Louis, Missouri, has made multiple unsuccessful journeys to the launch site.

The engineer remarked, “I’ve been down here before to watch it go up and have it cancelled, so I’m excited to see it go.” “I was too young for Apollo, so I wanted to be here”

The SLS rocket launched with three test dummies but no astronauts.

NASA’s top aim for the $4.1bn mission is to validate the capsule’s heat shield during re-entry so four humans can launch in 2024. A two-person lunar landing would follow in 2025.

NASA’s Apollo program ended in 1972. This time, it wants to build a lunar space station to prepare for a Mars expedition.

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