NASA prepares for third attempt at Artemis lunar rocket launch

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NASA prepares for third attempt at Artemis lunar rocket launch
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Ground teams at Kennedy Space Center prepared on Tuesday for a third try at launching NASA's towering, next-generation moon rocket, the debut flight of the U.S. space agency's Artemis lunar program, 50 years after Apollo's last moon mission.

It also signals a major change in direction for NASA's post-Apollo human spaceflight program, after decades focused on low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station. Named for the Greek goddess of the hunt - and Apollo's twin sister - Artemis aims to return astronauts to the moon's surface as early as 2025.

Getting the SLS-Orion spacecraft off the ground is a key first step. Its first voyage is intended to put the 5.75-million-pound vehicle through its paces in a rigorous test flight, pushing its design limits to prove the spacecraft is suitable to fly astronauts. Barring last-minute difficulties, the launch countdown should end with the rocket's four main R-25 engines and its twin solid-rocket boosters igniting to produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust, sending the spacecraft streaking skyward.

A top objective for the mission is to test the durability of Orion's heat shield during re-entry as it hits Earth's atmosphere at 24,500 miles per hour, or 32 times the speed of sound, on its return from lunar orbit - much faster than re-entries of capsules returning from the space station.

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