artemis stands ready ready to turn dreams into reality
ready to return humanity to the moon and take us further than ever before
the culmination of inspiration and innovation of herculean efforts and
steadfast collaboration artemis 1 is ready for departure
and the artemis generation is about to leave its mark
what will be a journey of more than a half a million miles to the moon and
back starts right here at launch complex 39
bravo although this first flight will not
carry a crew it will test every system in the deep depths of space to prepare
the way for future crewed missions
when the final go is given and the teams at kennedy space center release this
rocket arms will roar to life and we will witness the beginning of a tightly
choreographed mission
the first two and a half minutes lift artemis off earth and build momentum
it's another six minutes of pressing uphill accelerating to orbit
this is followed by push from the second stage to raise orion higher
and once all the systems are cleared to continue the second stage will fire
again and push orion beyond the bounds of earth
at this point we're going to the moon it'll take several days to reach our
destination but as we sprint across the void many new procedures and systems
will be tested and proven 240 thousand miles later orion will
enter an oval-shaped orbit around the moon one that will take orion to about
60 miles above the lunar surface and then out to 40 000 miles beyond the moon
this is a distance farther than any human rated spacecraft has ever gone
before
as momentous as reaching the moon will be returning to earth is just as
significant and challenging
every observation we make every lesson we learn on this journey prepares the
way for humans to safely venture out and return home
and so on its final lap around the moon orion will ignite its main engine push
out of lunar orbit and begin the long trek home
this is a spacecraft built for the harsh conditions of deep space as well as
intensity of returning home
nearing earth orion separates from the main power and propulsion systems of the
european service module and prepares for the final sequence of events
entering earth's atmosphere at 24 500 miles per hour the heat shield endures
the fury of re-entry the air around orion reaches
temperatures half as hot as the sun but also slows orion considerably
until finally parachutes can deploy allowing orion to
gently dip into the pacific ocean
to the moon and safely home again this is the journey of artemis one and
it will set the precedent for all that follows
united with partners around the world this is the challenge we choose
to meet hand in hand step by step
lighting the way from the earth
to the moon to mars
and beyond we
are ready