Humans Moon-bound For The First Time Since 1972
Finally, “to the moon” talk has nothing to do with a meme coin. Weather permitting, NASA is sending a crew of four astronauts today to circle the moon in a historic launch that will see the first woman, person of color, and non-US citizen leave low Earth orbit.
Three Americans and one Canadian will orbit Earth’s little neighbor before returning home. The 10-day trip is a key step in NASA’s $100 billion Artemis program to ultimately put humans back on the lunar surface, which has been plagued by years of contractor woes.
Testing, testing
Today’s $4 billion liftoff is a major test for the tech involved, like Boeing’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule. Originally planned for February, it was scuttled by SLS malfunctions. Meanwhile, SpaceX is trying to shake off deadline concerns about its lunar lander for upcoming missions, as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin races to develop a competing spacecraft.
If all goes well…
- NASA aims to test docking Orion to either SpaceX’s or Blue Origin’s lander in orbit next year, and then have humans leaving jumbo shoemarks on the moon as early as 2028.
- Eventually, the space agency aspires to establish a permanent moon base, which it sees as a launch pad for Mars exploration amid a space race with China.
Tune in…to watch the sendoff.—SK
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