Artemis lunar mission launched in the USA

NASA launched a superheavy launch vehicle SLS with the ship Orion as part of the first phase of the Artemis lunar program.

The rocket was launched from the site of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The duration of the unmanned flight of the ship will be 26 days. Orion will make two orbits around the moon, then return to Earth and land in the Pacific Ocean. There will be three mannequins on board Orion, which are used to measure the level of radiation during the flight.

At first, the launch was supposed to take place in the summer, but a hydrogen leak was detected in one of the rocket engines. Then a number of hurricanes hit Florida. This forced NASA specialists to return the rocket, which has been assembled since last year, to the hangar to protect it from the elements.