No one was on this first flight, just three test dummies. The capsule is headed for a wide orbit around the moon and then a return to Earth with a Pacific descent in about three weeks. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket roared skyward, lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center with 8.8 million pounds (4 million kg) of thrust and hitting 100 mph (160 km/h) in seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top and, less than two hours into the flight, it broke from Earth’s orbit toward the moon. “It was pretty overwhelming,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We’re going out to explore the skies and this is the next step.” The lunar photo follows nearly three months of troublesome fuel leaks that kept the rocket bouncing between its hangar and pad. Forced back indoors by Hurricane Ian in late September, the rocket stood outside as Nicole swept past last week with gusts of more than 80 mph (130 km/h). Although the wind caused some damage, administrators gave the go-ahead for the launch. An estimated 15,000 people jammed the launch site, with thousands more lining the beaches and streets outside the gates, to watch NASA’s long-awaited follow-up to Project Apollo, when 12 astronauts walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972. Crowd also gathered outside NASA centers in Houston and Huntsville, Alabama, to watch the spectacle on giant screens. The rocket sent a huge trail of flames into space, with a half moon glowing and buildings shaking. The liftoff marked the start of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister. The space agency plans to send four astronauts around the moon on the next flyby, in 2024, and land humans there as early as 2025. “For the Artemis generation, this is for you,” shouted circulation director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, referring to all those born after Apollo. She later told her team, “You’ve earned your place in history.” The 98-meter-long SLS is the most powerful rocket NASA has built, with more thrust than either the space shuttle or the mighty Saturn V that carried men to the moon. A series of hydrogen fuel leaks plagued launch attempts over the summer as well as countdown tests. A new leak broke out at a new point during refueling on Tuesday night, but an emergency team clamped the faulty valve in the pad. Then a US Space Force radar station went down, resulting in another showdown, this time over the replacement of an ethernet switch. “The rocket is alive. It creaks. Makes ventilation noises. It’s pretty scary,” said Trent Annis, one of three men who entered the blast zone to fix the leak. “My heart was pounding. My nerves were going.” Orion should reach the moon by Monday, more than 230,000 miles (370,000 kilometers) from Earth. After coming within 80 miles (130 kilometers) of the moon, the capsule will enter a distant orbit that will extend about 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond. The $4.1 billion test flight is scheduled to last 25 days, about the same time the crews will board. The space agency plans to push the spacecraft to its limits and uncover any problems before the astronauts enter. Nelson warned that “things are going to go wrong” during this show. A few minor problems appeared early in the flight, although preliminary indications were that the boosters and engines were performing well. “Personally, I’m not going to rest well until we get safely to the crash and recovery,” mission director Mike Sarafin said. The rocket was supposed to have a dry run by 2017. Government watchdogs estimate that NASA will have spent $93 billion on the project by 2025. Ultimately, NASA hopes to establish a base on the moon and send astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Many obstacles still need to be overcome. The Orion capsule will only carry astronauts to lunar orbit, not to the surface. NASA has hired Elon Musk’s SpaceX to develop Starship, the 21st century’s answer to the Apollo lunar lander. Starship will ferry astronauts back and forth between Orion and the lunar surface, at least on the first trip in 2025. The plan is to place Starship and eventually other companies’ landers in orbit around the moon, ready for use whenever the new Orion crews depart. Echoing an argument made during the 1960s, Duke University historian Alex Roland questions the value of human spaceflight, saying that robots and unmanned spacecraft could do the job more cheaply, efficiently, and with safety. “Over the years, no evidence has emerged to justify the investment we’ve made in human spaceflight — other than the prestige involved in that conspicuous consumption,” he said. NASA is waiting until this test flight is over before introducing the astronauts who will be on the next one and those who will follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11. Most of NASA’s corps of 42 active astronauts and 10 trainees hadn’t even been born when Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt clocked out 50 years ago next month. “We’re jumping out of our spacesuits with excitement,” astronaut Christina Koch said before launch. After a nearly year-long International Space Station mission and an all-female spacewalk, Koch, 43, is on NASA’s short list for a lunar flight. So did astronaut Kayla Barron, 35, who finally witnessed her first rocket launch, not counting her own a year ago. “It took my breath away and I started to tear up,” Barron said. “What an amazing achievement for this team.”
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