NASA’s
CAPE CANAVERAL: The first mission of NASA’s Artemis program, the replacement for Apollo, was scheduled to launch on Monday, carrying a massive next-generation rocketship around the moon and back unmanned for six weeks.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which stands 32 stories tall and consists of two stages, was scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, during a two-hour launch window that started at 8:33 am EDT.
The SLS-Orion’s first flight, codenamed Artemis I, aims to put the 5.75 million pound craft through its paces in a demanding demonstration flight, pushing its design envelope, before NASA decides it is safe enough to transport astronauts.
