NASA has announced that it plans to launch its long-awaited mission to the moon’s surface next Wednesday, the first trip in the Artemis lunar program after being delayed three times in as many months.
The launch of the heavy-lift rocket, the most powerful ever built by contractors for NASA, is due to take place at 01:04 am local time (0604 GMT) on Wednesday, said Jim Free, a senior official at the US space agency.
Winds from Hurricane Nicole battered the rocket as it stood on its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. However, the wind speeds did not surpass the limits the vehicle can withstand, the NASA official told journalists, adding that there was “nothing preventing” a launch on Wednesday.
Artemis is designed to land humans on the Moon quickly and focus on Mars as a long-term human spaceflight goal after that. The uncrewed Artemis I mission would mark the debut of the SLS and Orion capsule, for what would be a more than monthlong journey around the moon.
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The program plans to land NASA’s astronauts on the moon by its third Artemis mission in 2025. Humans have not left Earth orbit since Apollo 17 returned from the Moon in 1972.
