NASA will make another attempt to launch the Artemis I mission to the moon on Wednesday as small-satellite launch provider ABL Space Systems prepares for the maiden flight of its RS1 booster from Alaska.
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ESA Mission Update
The countdown has started for the first human-rated launch to the Moon in over half a century. ESA’s European Service Module will be powering the Orion spacecraft to our natural satellite and back.
Watch the most powerful rocket ever built launch on 29 August from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Teams on Earth have a two-hour window from 14:33 CEST to initiate liftoff, so the orbits of our planet and the Moon are aligned for the Artemis I mission.
Follow the livestream on ESA Web TV starting at 12:30 CEST (11:30 BST).
Two more dates are available if liftoff is not possible on 29 August. The Artemis Moon mission can also be launched on 2 and 5 September.
The countdown to launch includes a large amount of fuel loaded into NASA’s Space Launch System rocket SLS. Tanking starts eight hours before launch with the flight director asking for a “go” 15 minutes before launch.
This journey will serve as a test of both the Orion spacecraft and its SLS rocket ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth. The second Artemis mission will see four astronauts travel around the Moon on a flyby voyage around our natural satellite.
The European Service Module – or ESM – provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
The satellite will launch from Kennedy Space Center with Artemis I
BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital Corporation PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, integrated the Lunar Infrared imaging spacecraft, also known as LunIR into NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS is the only rocket that will be able to send the Orion capsule, astronauts, and cargo directly to the Moon on a single mission. LunIR will fly by the Moon and collect surface thermography as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 – a test mission for SLS. After the flyby, the 6U satellite will conduct technology demonstrations related to deep-space operations for future Mars missions.
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NASA Mission Update
The Flight Readiness Review for NASA’s Artemis I mission has concluded, and teams are proceeding toward a two-hour launch window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday, August 29, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B in Florida.
Live coverage of events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Monday, Aug. 22. The launch countdown will begin Saturday, Aug. 27, at 10:23 a.m.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Of the six launches known to be scheduled to close out August, there’s only one – Artemis I — that truly matters in any real sense. The others will be duly recorded but little remembered in what could be the busiest launch year in human history.
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The Wikipedia orbital launch page lists six launches to close out August. The big one, of course, is NASA’s Artemis I mission next Monday. The others, not so momentous but still worth listing.
Disclaimer: This schedule is subject to change without notice. Parabolic Arc takes no responsibility for delays, changes, additions or what have you. And, as always, no wagering.
Tuesday, August 23
Launch Vehicle: Long March 11
Launch Site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Launch Company: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
Payload: TBA
Wednesday, August 24
Launch Vehicle: Long March 2D
Launch Site: Taiyuan Xichang Satellite Launch Center
Launch Company: CASC
Payload: TBA
Saturday, August 27
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9
Launch Site: Vandenberg Space Force Base
Launch Company: SpaceX
Payloads: 46 Starlink broadband satellites
Webcast: www.spacex.com
Sunday, August 28
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Launch Company: SpaceX
Payloads: 53 Starlink broadband satellites
Webcast: www.spacex.com
Monday, August 29
Launch Vehicle: Space Launch System Block 1
Launch Site: Kennedy LC-39B
Launch Window: 8:33-10:33 a.m. EDT (12:33-14:33 UTC)
Launching Agency: NASA
Payloads: Orion spacecraft and 10 secondary payloads
Webcast: www.nasa.gov
Artemis I Secondary Payloads
| Satellite | Organization | Orbit | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArgoMoon | Italian Space Agency | Heliocentric | Spacecraft will demonstrate capacity of CubeSats to conduct precise maneuvers in deep space by providing detailed images of the SLS’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage |
| BioSentinel | NASA | Heliocentric | Spacecraft will use budding yeast to detect, measure, and compare the impact of deep space radiation on DNA repair |
| CuSP | NASA | Heliocentric | Space weather measurements |
| EQUULEUS | University of Tokyo | Earth-moon L2 | 6U CubeSat will measure the distribution of plasma around Earth |
| LunaH-Map | NASA | Selenocentric | Lunar polar orbiter will search for evidence of frozen water deposits |
| Lunar IceCube | NASA | Selenocentric | Lunar orbiter will search for frozen water deposits |
| LunIR | Lockheed Martin Space | Heliocentric | Demonstration technology to collect surface spectroscopy and thermography |
| Near-Earth Asteroid Scout | NASA | Heliocentric | Technology demonstration of solar sail to rendezvous with asteroid |
| OMOTENASHI | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) | Selenocentric | Smallest vehicle to attempt lunar lander |
| Team Miles | Fluid and Reason, LLC | Heliocentric | Technology demonstration of plasma thrusters |
Late August
Launch Vehicle: Kuaizhou 1A
Launch Site: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Launch Company: ExPace
Payloads: Centispace-1 S3 and Centispace-1 S4 navigation satellites
PARIS (ESA PR) — With the rocket now on the launchpad, the Artemis I Moon mission is getting real: 29 August is the first opportunity for the SLS rocket to blast off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s launchpad 39B in Florida, USA.
This first Artemis mission will put NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its European Service Module to the test during a journey beyond the Moon and back. The spacecraft will enter lunar orbit, using the Moon’s gravity to gain speed and propel itself almost half a million km from Earth – farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever travelled.
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Jack Black, Chris Evans, Yo-Yo Ma and more to headline launch day coverage
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA will provide coverage of prelaunch, launch, and postlaunch activities for Artemis I, the first integrated test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This uncrewed flight test around the Moon will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.
The SLS rocket is targeted to launch during a two-hour window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 29, from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy.
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NASA Mission Update
When Artemis I launches to the Moon and back there will be A LOT of science hitching a ride! From CubeSats designed to hunt for water deposits on the lunar surface to experiments on how life responds to space – and so much more.
The Artemis I mission consists of the Space Launch System rocket that will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth to check out spacecraft systems before crew fly aboard on Artemis II. The Artemis I mission is one more step toward taking the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. Get all the info on this historic mission: https://nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i
Producers: Jessica Wilde, Sami Aziz, Scott Bednar
Videographer: Frank Michaux
Credit: NASA
by Erika Peters
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
HOUSTON — Join NASA’s Orion spacecraft on its first mission around the Moon using the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) to track the spacecraft’s flight as it happens.
On the web, users can follow AROW to see where Orion is in relation to the Earth and the Moon and follow Orion’s path during the mission.
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Artemis 1 will launch from Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital Corporation PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has delivered LunIR to Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. LunIR is a 6U satellite that will fly by the Moon and collect surface thermography as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 – a test mission for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). Offering more payload mass, volume capability, and energy, SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket to date, can carry more payload to deep space than any other vehicle. SLS also houses the Orion capsule – NASA’s spacecraft that will take humans deep into space. After the flyby, LunIR will conduct technology demonstrations related to deep-space operations.
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NASA Mission Update
Around 7:30 a.m. EDT the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived atop Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a nearly 10-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building.
In the coming days, engineers and technicians will configure systems at the pad for launch, which is currently targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. (two hour launch window). Teams have worked to refine operations and procedures and have incorporated lessons learned from the wet dress rehearsal test campaign and have updated the launch timeline accordingly.
NASA Mission Update
Social media users are invited to register to take part in our global virtual NASA Social for the Artemis I launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA is targeting launch on August 29, 2022 during a two-hour launch window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT.
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MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — Poised to launch on Artemis I from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, BioSentinel – a shoebox-sized CubeSat – will perform the first long-duration biology experiment in deep space. Artemis missions at the Moon will prepare humans to travel on increasingly farther and longer-duration missions to destinations like Mars, and BioSentinel will carry microorganisms, in the form of yeast, to fill critical gaps in knowledge about the health risks in deep space posed by space radiation.
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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
During the first seven months of the year, five new satellite launch vehicles from Europe, China, Russia and South Korea flew successfully for the first time. As impressive as that is, it was a mere opening act to a busy period that could see at least 20 additional launchers debut around the world.
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