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NASA are holding a teleconference at 4pm UK time this afternoon to provide updates on the much delayed Artemis I mission. The event can be watched live in the video above, or via the NASA Live website. Speaking at the briefing will be NASA associate administrator Jim Free, as well as Kennedy Space Center’s senior vehicle operations manager Cliff Lanham. Should a third time prove lucky and the space agency succeed in getting its 322-feet-tall rocket off the ground later this month, the mission will see the Orion spacecraft loop repeatedly around the Moon, carrying three radiation-measuring “phantoms”. It will pass as close to the lunar surface as 62 miles, but also journey out some 40.000 miles beyond the Moon before returning to Earth — and complete the key test of the Orion space capsule’s heat shields as it goes through atmospheric re-entry.
Prior to the conference, a NASA spokesperson said that the space agency “is planning to roll the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy [Space Centre] Friday November 4 at 12.01 am [local time, 4.01am GMT].
“The agency continues to target launch for Monday November 13, with liftoff planned during a 69-minute launch window that opens at 12.07am EST [5.07am GMT].
“A launch on November 14 would result in a mission duration of about 25-and-a-half days with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Friday, December 9.
“Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence, and serving as a stepping stone to send astronauts to Mars.”
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