NASA to launch rocket test as ‘final step’ before humans can again walk the moon and beyond

A rocket test said to be the “final step” before humans can again walk the moon and beyond will launch today. Here’s what you need to know.

The stakes don’t get much higher than this … literally.

Artemis I, the most powerful rocket ever built, will launch from Kennedy Space Centre at 10.30pm Monday (AEST).

Its goal is to test a new space capsule propelled by a 32-storey high rocket – captained by a crash test dummy called Commander Moonikin Campos – by flying beyond the moon and back.

The launch is widely seen as the final test before humans will return to the moon and eventually voyage beyond to Mars.

NASA chief Bill Nelson labelled Artemis 1 as “the world’s only spacecraft designed to carry humans into deep space”.

“With the Artemis I launch on Monday, NASA is at a historic inflection point, poised to begin the most significant series of science and human exploration missions over a generation,” NASA associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy Bhavya Lal said.

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The goal is to test a new space capsule propelled by a 32-storey high rocket – captained by a crash test dummy called Commander Moonikin Campos – by flying beyond the moon and back. Source: NASA

As well as testing whether the new capsule is up to the job of transporting humans between moons and planets safely, it will also be tasked with testing a new orbit, and will release 10 small satellites which will survey the moon’s surface and conditions for future missions.

Despite the excitement and anticipation from the science community, the launch was almost grounded on Sunday following a scare from nearby lightning strikes at the Kennedy Space Centre.

But that has since been mitigated and last word from the launch site states the NASA test director had given the “go for booster power up” and all non-essential staff had left the launch pad area.

In a marriage of things old and new for NASA, the launch will happen at the same Cape Canaveral launch complex which staged the Apollo lunar missions between 1968 to 1972.

NASA will steam the livestream online.