A minor advancement for the Space Launch System (SLS), but a giant leap forward for space exploration and the goal of returning to the Moon. NASA is verifying that the SLS rocket, nicknamed the “Mega Moon Rocket,” successfully passed its first test with the launch of the Artemis I mission in mid-November, and the results are optimistic. This is good news for the SLS, but above all for the Artemis program, the ambitious space exploration project that aims to bring a human back to the Moon and even establish a sustainable presence on the surface and in the orbit of the satellite.
However, was everything going well? After numerous delays, overspending, and some last-minute complications that forced the Artemis I launch date to be rescheduled, the SLS rocket took off with the Orion capsule from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. We reported on the operation at the time, and although it was not without technical challenges, the maneuver appeared to go as expected. The Artemis I mission was launched, and a few weeks later, on December 11, it achieved another crucial milestone with the landing of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean after its space odyssey.
During the SLS debut, NASA collected a huge amount of data that it has been evaluating and examining ever since. And while they still have an “initial review,” its leaders have already wanted to send an optimistic message. This is important because NASA has very respectable data. According to the details, during the pre-launch and launch phases, engineers from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, collected over four terabytes of data and images on board the “Mega Moon Rocket.”
“The SLS has laid the foundation for the Artemis Generation and the future of deep-space flights,” says John Honeycutt of the SLS program. “The correlation between the actual flight performance and that expected for Artemis I is excellent. Building and successfully launching a rocket requires both engineering and art. And the analysis of the inaugural flight puts NASA and its partners in a good position to drive Artemis II and subsequent missions.”