Artemis I On Its Way to the Moon

Artemis I is a 26-day, uncrewed mission to travel around the moon and return to Earth. Find out how the powerful SLS rocket finally got off the ground and what the mission hopes to accomplish.

Like every kid my age, I built a scale model of the Saturn V rocket back in the early 70s. We were all glued to our television sets as NASA sent nine crewed missions to the moon in those years.

That’s when we all learned to do the countdown, “five, four, three, two, one, liftoff!” Rocket launches were always impressive, and the Saturn V was the most spectacular rocket of them all.

Saturn V rockets were massive, standing 111 metres in height, and weighing almost 3,000 tonnes. Announcers broadcasting their launches always mentioned the fun fact that the command module, or space capsule, in which the astronauts sat was smaller than the cone-shaped nozzles at the rocket’s base.

Saturn V Only Vehicle to Launch Crews Beyond Earth Orbit

The Saturn V rocket is the only space vehicle that has ever launched crews beyond Earth orbit. We haven’t needed to do that in recent years, because crewed space exploration has focused on the International…