Nasa has launched its Artemis II mission with the goal of conducting a manned fly-by of the Moon on the back of the super heavy-lift Space Launch System.
The 10-day mission’s goals include testing the life support systems aboard the Orion capsule and its manual piloting controls. The crew will travel roughly 47,400km behind the far side of the Moon before using lunar gravity to ‘slingshot’ them back toward Earth.
They are also verifying the ability of Nasa’s Deep Space Network to maintain high-speed communication and precise tracking as they reach a distance of more than 370,000km from Earth.
Artemis II has been in the planning stages for several years, although the scope of the mission has changed several times amid fluctuating goals and long-term plans for Nasa. Originally, the astronauts were going to deliver the first element of the Lunar Gateway – a proposed space station that would have orbited around the Moon – but that project was ultimately cancelled last month.
After reaching...