Nasa plans to return to the Moon as early as August

On the 53rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Nasa announced that it was aiming for a late August launch of its new moon rocket.

Nasa’s Orion spacecraft could blast off on a test flight around the Moon as early as August 29, according to Jim Free, associate administrator of Nasa’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.

‘These are [the dates] we are looking to today based on how the work has gone,’ Mr Free said during a Wednesday press conference about the impending launch.

‘The next several weeks will be a flurry of activity,’ he said. ‘Launch day is going to be here before we know it,’

Nasa will attempt the more than month-long lunar test flight with three mannequins, but no astronauts.

A single solid rocket booster for SLS generates 3.6 million pounds of thrust! Watch a powerful booster firing live on July 21 at 2:55 p.m. EDT on our Facebook page where @NASA Astronaut @astro_reid and booster experts will join us.

Where to watch >> https://t.co/JNkecrMdLK pic.twitter.com/QvCZILdRdY

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) July 20, 2022

The space agency is also targeting September 2 and 5 as backup dates for the launch before it would have to stand down for two weeks.

Free noted that the test flight begins the first step for the ‘Artemis programme to go back to the Moon’.

Nasa’s 30-storey Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and attached Orion capsule are currently in the hangar at Kennedy Space Centre, following repairs stemming from last month’s countdown test.

Originally intended to launch in 2017, the Artemis I flight has seen multiple delays due to fuel leaks and other technical trouble during Nasa’s repeated launch rehearsals at the pad.

Nasa officials assured reporters on Wednesday that the problems have been resolved and that testing is almost complete.

Nasa announced that it was aiming for a late August launch of its new moon rocket.

The given dates are tentative as it could change based on weather and other factors before the rocket is supposed to return to the pad on August 18.

‘We’re going to be careful,’ said Mr Free.

At 322 feet, the rocket and Orion capsule are nearly as tall as The Shard in London.

If Orion’s trip to the Moon and back goes well, astronauts could climb aboard in 2023 for a lunar loop-around and land in 2025.

Astronauts last explored the Moon in 1972. The first of the 12 moonwalkers, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, stepped onto the dusty grey surface on July 20, 1969, while Michael Collins orbited the moon.

The exact timing length of the Artemis I mission will vary depending on the date it actually launches, ranging from 42 days to 39 days.

Part of the launch scheduling is based on avoiding placing the solar-powered Orion in the Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse from 30 August to 1 September.

In March, Nasa finally rolled out its moon rocket from the assembly plant to its launch pad in Florida.

The space agency admitted last year it wouldn’t be able to hit its target of putting humans back on the lunar surface by 2024.

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