If all goes well during the three-week flight, the rocket will propel an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the Moon, and then the capsule will return to Earth with a dive into the Pacific in December. After years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered skyward, lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center with 4 million kilograms (8.8 million pounds) of thrust and hitting 160 km/h (100 mph) in seconds. The Orion capsule was perched on top, ready to leave Earth’s orbit for the Moon, two hours into the flight. 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 missile remained outside as Nicole swept through last week with gusts of more than 130 km/h (80 mph). Although the wind blew away a 3-meter (10-foot) strip of caulking high up near the capsule, managers gave the go-ahead for the launch. 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 its next flyby, in 2024, and land humans there as early as 2025. The 98-meter (322-foot) long SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA, with more thrust than either the space shuttle or the mighty Saturn V that carried men to the Moon. Orion will reach the Moon by Monday, more than 370,000 km (230,000 miles) from Earth. After reaching within 130 kilometers (80 miles) of the Moon, the capsule will enter a distant orbit that will extend about 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) beyond. The $4.1 billion test flight is expected to last 25 days, about the same as when the crews will be on board. The space agency plans to push the spacecraft to its limits and uncover any problems before the astronauts enter. 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.
