Alex McColgan

Is this the dawn of a new age of space exploration?

The answer will depend on the success of Artemis I. I'm Alex McColgan and you're watching Astrum.

Join me today as we count down the history-making launch of Artemis I, learn about NASA's ambitious goals for the Artemis program, and take a look under the hood of the Orion.

the most advanced space shuttle ever built.

On Monday, August 29th, 2022, Artemis I will launch from Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

If all goes as planned, the day will see two firsts.

It will be the first launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, a super-heavy vehicle that will propel the Orion capsule into space.

and the first flight of Orion itself, the only spacecraft currently capable of human deep space flight.

While Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission, the Orion shuttle can support a crew of up to six humans.

It is equipped with solar panels, a glass cockpit, an automated docking system, a life support system,

and a launch abort system capable of ejecting the crew module in case a catastrophic failure occurs during ascent.

The shuttle's primary propulsion comes from a single AJ-10 engine, while its secondary propulsion uses eight R-4D-11 engines as thrusters.

In total, the Artemis I mission will last 25 days, travelling beyond the Moon and back, while spending six of those days in a distant retrograde orbit, meaning it will orbit the Moon opposite to the direction that the Moon orbits Earth.

In addition to testing NASA's latest equipment, Artemis 1 will have a secondary payload of 10 CubeSats, which contain small satellites that will conduct some nifty independent testing.

These include an orbiter designed to search for lunar ice, and a solar-powered spacecraft capable of encountering near-Earth asteroids.

Orion will be stacked on the Space Launch System, a towering rocket standing 111 metres

At blastoff, it will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust, making it the most powerful rocket ever built.

To create enough force to send this heavy rocket past Earth's gravitational pull, it will get power in several stages.

At blastoff, the core stage and the two solid rocket boosters will fire up.

Within minutes, the core stage, which houses four RS-25 engines, will burn through nearly 3 million litres of liquid propellant, while each booster will also burn through 900,000 kilograms of solid fuel.