NASA Starts Countdown To Historic Artemis Launch

Topline

NASA started its countdown clock Saturday for the launch of Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight around the moon that is a first step in an ambitious program to bring humans back to the moon for the first time in 50 years, and explore the possibility of living there and on Mars.

NASA started its countdown to the launch of Artemis 1 on Friday, an unmanned mission that will … [+] record data on the moon’s orbit as NASA plans to bring humans back to the moon—and possibly Mars. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

NASA’s countdown clock began at 10:23 a.m. Saturday, with just under 48 hours to go before the rocket is scheduled to take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The historic voyage is expected to take 42 days, with an Orion capsule traveling 1.3 million miles to orbit the moon, providing key scientific data as NASA plans its first crewed moon landing by 2025.

Artemis 1 will journey to the farthest point a spacecraft designed for humans has ventured past the Earth’s atmosphere— the capsule will carry three high-tech mannequins to track the effects deep space travel will have on humans.

At 8.8 million pounds of thrust and a 212-foot core stage, the Orion spacecraft is the most powerful NASA has ever built—slightly taller than the Statue of Liberty.

It’s scheduled to launch between 8:33 and 10:33 a.m. Monday morning.

Big Number

$20 billion. That’s how much the rocket cost to develop, with an additional cost of $4.1 billion per launch.

Key Background

The program to take humans back to the moon has been decades in the making, but has been subject to delays and obstacles related to funding. NASA had initially planned to put humans on the moon in 2024, but delayed the plan after it went roughly $2 billion over budget. In 2021, NASA committed to using SpaceX’s Starship as a lunar landing vehicle for its Artemis 3 mission, under a $2.9 billion contract.

Crucial Quote

NASA spokesperson Kathryn Hambleton called the mission a “flight test that will provide the foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate NASA’s commitment and capability to extend human presence to the moon and beyond.”

What To Watch For

Following the Artemis 1 mission, NASA plans to launch Artemis 2 in 2024, putting four astronauts into orbit around the moon. The highly anticipated Artemis 3 mission is planned to be the first time humans land on the moon since the final Apollo mission in 1972. In addition to providing astronomical data, NASA has said the Artemis program will create tens of thousands of jobs and put a woman and a person of color on the moon, creating a “long-term presence on the moon” and understanding how it could eventually “establish a community” on Mars.

What We Don’t Know

The weather. As of Friday evening, U.S. Space Force meteorologists were forecasting a 70% chance of fair conditions at the Kennedy Space Center during the two-hour launch window. NASA’s primary concern is rain, which could delay the launch to one of two backup windows scheduled for Friday, September 2 and Monday, September 5. The National Weather Service expects showers and thunderstorms Monday, with an 80% chance of precipitation.