Naria Azizi, Italy
On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew successfully completed the national goal of landing humans on the Moon which had been set by President John F. Kennedy during the Cold War’s infamous Space Race against the USSR. In 1972, Apollo 17 was the last mission to achieve this feat. Since then, no human has set foot on the Moon. So now, fifty years after the last lunar landing, what is pushing NASA to return with Artemis 1?
Artemis 1 is the first significant spaceflight of NASA’s Artemis mission and consists of an uncrewed lunar orbit. Artemis 1 was successfully launched on November 16, 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC from the Kennedy Space Centre. The Artemis 1 mission marked an important milestone in several ways, including the first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft, which will pave the way for future human missions to the Moon and beyond.
The NASA Artemis program is a series of manned and unmanned missions that are focused on establishing a sustainable human presence on and around the Moon by the end of the decade, with the eventual goal of sending humans to Mars.
SOURCES:
NASA. (2021, March 15). Artemis.https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
NASA. (2021, June 25). ‘GreenRun’ Hot Fire Test is Key to Artemis I Core Stage Readiness.https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/ systems/sIs/green-run-hot-fire-test-is-key-to-artemis-i-core-stage-readiness
NASA. (2021, May 26). NASA, the European Space Agency Formalize Artemis Gateway Partnership. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-the-european-space-agency-formalize-artemis-gateway-partnership