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30th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon (9 of 20): Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, is photographed walking near the lunar module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity . (Photo by NASA / Getty Images)
IN the Press Room
UPDATED 3:34 PM PT – Sunday November 29, 2020
NASA is starting to prepare the launch system for next year’s “Artemis” lunar mission.
On Tuesday, NASA announced the start of assembling the rocket, which will be used to bring the first woman to the moon. The launch is scheduled for 2021.
The first booster engine was completed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for the maiden voyage of the “Artemis” program.
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The trip will serve as a test for the technology that should be part of the manned rocket “Artemis”.
“So the Artemis program is our lunar exploration program,” said astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor. “We will reach the south pole of the moon by 2024, landing the first woman and the next man.”
It is the first of 10 test engines to be assembled as part of the new space launch system, which NASA hopes can be used for future trips to Mars and other deep space missions.
In 2021, officials are expected to conduct an unmanned test flight around the moon before the second mission in 2023. This is all in preparation for the final mission, “Artemis three,” which will land on the moon in 2024.
Since 1969, the United States has only made six manned trips to the moon. The last dates back to 1972.
In 2019, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency will use the next trip to assess their ability to travel sustainably and stay on the moon.
“We’re going to take the lead, and we’re going to take a coalition of nations, to go to the moon, this time to stay,” Bridenstine said. “This is a significant difference between what we are doing today and what we did in 1969-1972.”
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