Nasa is set to launch its new Artemis rocket on Monday (August 29), marking the next chapter in putting humans back on the Moon. The flight is the first in the agency’s Artemis programme and will be without a crew this time. However, there will be astronauts on board for subsequent missions, with the first crewed flight into space scheduled for 2024 and Nasa expecting the first Artemis astronauts to land on the Moon in 2025.
The Artemis 1 mission will see the first launch of the new 322ft tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which the agency says is the world’s most powerful rocket to date. It will take the Orion capsule, powered by the Airbus-built European Service Module (ESM), into the Moon’s orbit.
Airbus engineer Sian Cleaver is industrial manager for the ESM, and as a child dreamt about being involved in human spaceflight before getting a master’s degree in physics and astronomy from Durham University. She told the PA news agency: “I’m ridiculously excited, and I think everybody on the team is.
