• The American space agency is counting down the minutes until the Space Launch System, a massive new Moon rocket, takes launch.
• The launch of the rocket is scheduled on Monday at 08:33 local time (12:33 GMT; 13:33 BST).
• Its task will be to launch the Orion test capsule far from Earth.

The American space agency is counting down the minutes until the Space Launch System, a massive new Moon rocket, takes launch.

The Artemis project, which intends to return people to the lunar surface after a 50-year hiatus, will be built on SLS, the most potent spacecraft ever created by NASA.

The 2040s Mars missions will be built on the foundation laid by the moon expedition.

The launch of the rocket is scheduled on Monday at 08:33 local time (12:33 GMT; 13:33 BST).

Its task will be to launch the Orion test capsule far from Earth.

In six weeks, this spacecraft will make a large arc-shaped circle around the Moon before returning to Earth and splashing down in the Pacific.

For this test, Orion is unmanned, but beginning in 2024, humans will board the spacecraft for a future series of missions that will only get more difficult.

According to NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, “we’re looking at everything we do with this Artemis I flight through the prism of what can we prove out and what can we demonstrate that will buy down risk for the Artemis II crewed mission.”

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