NASA experts have confirmed that the SLS rocket is ready for launch. Engineers have begun a 53-hour countdown. If all goes according to plan, the Artemis-2 lunar mission will launch at 6:24 p.m. on April 1. The broadcast will be available on the official channel of the U.S. space agency.
The Countdown is On!
NASA is closer than ever to sending astronauts on a trip around the Moon for the first time since the early 1970s. On Monday, March 30, engineers officially declared that the SLS rocket—which is as tall as a 32-story building—was ready for launch. At that time, an official 53-hour countdown was announced.
Launching the first manned mission to the Moon since the 1970s is no easy task. And just because the countdown has begun doesn’t mean the rocket is ready for launch. There is a specific procedure—a series of steps that have to be completed within a certain time frame according to the schedule—and that is why this countdown is necessary.
In any case, the Artemis-2 crew has already completed their pre-launch quarantine and arrived at the spaceport on Friday. Contrary to the Apollo program, which took place in the 1960s and 1970s, the Orion spacecraft capsule will now carry four astronauts instead of three.
Where to watch
If there are no problems, the mission is scheduled to launch at 6:24 p.m. on April 1, Eastern Time. In Kyiv, it will be 1:24 a.m. on April 2. So anyone who wants to watch the launch will have to keep their eyes on their screens a little longer.
The broadcast will be available on NASA’s official channel. However, for residents of Ukraine, it would be easier to follow our own live stream, which you can watch by clicking this link. The space agency will begin streaming live coverage of events at the launch site a few hours before liftoff and will continue until the Artemis-2 mission is launched. This will be followed by a break, and the return will take place after the spacecraft has reached Earth’s orbit.
Next, the crew will spend 10 days orbiting the Moon, followed by their return to Earth. Let’s hope they don’t run into any problems with the heat shield. If the launch is postponed for any reason, NASA will have a few more days to try again.
According to phys.org
