US Eyes The Moon Again With Artemis Rocket Launch

After five decades the US is again planning a human space mission to the moon. NASA’s new moon rocket was launched from Kennedy Space Centre on Wednesday. This space launch is part of NASA’s Artemis lunar-exploration program. It is named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.

As it is a test for the future journey of astronauts to the moon, the debut flight of the Artemis rocket has three test dummies aboard.

As per the plans of this three-week-long space flight, the rocket will propel an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the moon. In December this capsule will return to earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA will study this space flight in detail as the space agency plans to send four astronauts around the moon on the next flight of this space program, in 2024. It envisions landing humans on the lunar surface in 2025.

After this test flight ends successfully, NASA may declare the names of astronauts who will reach the moon after Apollo 11′s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Fifty years ago Apollo 17 carried the last moonwalkers Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt to the lunar surface.