Successful launch. On the third attempt, the first mission of the new Artemis space programme has lifted off towards the Moon. It is the first part of the return of humans to the Earth's natural satellite
At the last minute of the countdown to a space launch there is nothing more important. The silence is only broken by the roaring engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the enthusiastic commentary of the NASA transmission: 3, 2, 1... The first eruption of joy: Artemis I took off this Wednesday morning. It is the inauguration of a new space exploration programme, 79 days after the first attempt (and two hydrogen leaks), but it is more than that: it is the first chapter of a story that wants to take us to Mars.
But with Artemis we already know that not everything has been a bed of roses. In the middle of the Portuguese dawn, around 03h30, the "red team" was called to the game - a sign of trouble. A hydrogen refuelling valve was leaking, but nothing that three NASA technicians couldn't fix (about two hours later). One problem is solved and another appears.
It emerged that one of the requirements for the Eastern Range (the entity responsible for authorising rocket launches) to allow the flight was not being met. The potential loss of radar data, which allows the rocket to be tracked, was not working due to "an ethernet switch" (a piece of networking equipment) - and if it sounds like a basic task, this was a long battle that took around 70 minutes to resolve.
We were less than an hour away from the opening of Artemis 1's launch window. The delays were going to set a new target for take-off. 6h04 (Portugal mainland time) was already out of question, but suddenly it came: 6h48 was the new take-off time.
There were no scares or setbacks that prevented this third attempt to be successful. Two storms (Ian and Nicole), liquid hydrogen leaks and successive postponements prevented earlier celebrations.
It was 6.37am (time in continental Portugal) when the order to "go ahead" came - we were ten minutes from launch. At 6.48am, the SLS rocket and Orion capsule lifted off. "We went up together! Back to the Moon and beyond," synthesised the NASA broadcast, in the voice of Derrol Nail, NASA commentator.
The weather cooperated and gifted the engineers' efforts with a historic moment. After all, it's not every day that we send a mission to the Moon and prepare for the return of humans to Earth's natural satellite. In fact, the last time we were on the Moon was in 1972 - the Apollo 17 liftoff will be 50 years old next December 7th.
The party was ready and the almost 26-day journey of the Orion capsule (which followed docked atop the SLS rocket) began smoothly, if you can discount the last three months of preparation. It is the first chapter of the Artemis programme: an unmanned flight test around the Moon to ensure everything is working properly. The return to Earth is scheduled for 11 December.
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