In what can be described as a magnificent display of light and sound, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the most potent rocket ever made on a journey to the Moon on Wednesday, the 16th of November 2022, ushering in the launch of the space agency’s new flagship programme, Artemis.
The 32-storey tall Space Launch System blasted off from the storied Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 01:47 a.m. (06:47 GMT).
“We are going,” tweeted the space agency.
Fixed to its top was the unscrewed Orion spaceship that would later separate and complete an orbit-and-a-half of Earth’s nearest neighbour, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of colour touch down on lunar soil by the mid-2020s.
America last sent astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo era, from 1969-1972. This time it hopes to build a sustained presence — including a lunar space station — to help prepare for an eventual mission to Mars.
Technical difficulties shortened the two-hour launch window that opened at 1:04 am, but the launch nevertheless took place.
A valve leak on Tuesday night led engineers to stop the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage, but a team rushed to the launch site and quickly fixed the issue after an hour.
Later, the space agency reported that a radar site monitoring the rocket’s flight path was experiencing problems due to a faulty ethernet switch that had to be replaced.
It was third time lucky for NASA after two previous launch attempts were cancelled for technical reasons. Launch was also delayed due to weather setbacks, including Hurricane Ian that battered Florida in late September.
About 100,000 people were expected on the coast to watch the launch, with the rocket promising to light up the night sky.
A space enthusiast from St. Louis, Missouri, Andrew Trombley, was anxiously hoping for a successful lift-off after several futile trips made for the launch.
“I’ve been down here a couple of times already to watch this thing go up and have it cancelled, so, this is like, whatever, the third trip down here for this, so I’m excited to see it go,” said the network engineer.
“I was too little for the Apollo missions, so … I wanted to be here in person.”
Kerry Warner, 59, a grandmother and semi-retired educator who lives in Florida, was fired up for lift-off, which she said was “part of America and what America is all about.”
