Artemis launch – live: Nasa prepares to launch Moon rocket as it begins fuelling operations
Artemis I mission to the Moon is looking good ahead of its planned launch on 29 August.
Nasa has begun tanking operations for the mission.
After experiencing lightning during storms over the weekend, Nasa said the “strikes were of low magnitude and had no impacts to Space Launch System, Orion, or ground systems”. In a blog post on Sunday, the space agency said the “countdown continues” ahead of the launch.
The space agency announced that teams are proceeding toward a two-hour launch window opening at 8.33am EDT Monday, 29 August from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which could see its first launch of a massive Moonrocket since 1973.
The uncrewed test flight is slated as being necessary first steps before eventually getting human space boots back on the Moon.
Artemis I is the first test flight for SLS and Orion and will serve as a crucial test for making sure all the related systems function properly in space before the first humans climb aboard for Artemis II in 2023.
The mission is scheduled to last 42 days and will include a flyby that will take the spacecraft just 62 miles from the lunar surface, after which it will enter a wide orbit around the Moon for six days in order to collect flight data.
