Page 33 - Artemis 2 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Test mission are to test the heat shield of the orion spacecraft. they have to make sure that heat shield is able to withstand the 5,000-degree temperatures that it will experience when it re-enters the earth as atmosphere. also, as i mentioned, this rocket has never flown so they need to make sure the vehicle is working properly. also, they want to check and they want to run through retrieval of the orion spacecraft. there's some avionics onboard they're hoping to use on artemis 2, the first crewed mission of this program. so they are hoping to achieve a lot with this mission. no crew onboard...

>> to all of us that gaze up at the moon dreaming of the day humankind returns to the lunar surface, folks, we're here. >> reporter: the sls is years behind schedule, billions over budget. but it's also the most powerful rocket ever built and it's designed to launch people even deeper into space than the moon. >> our sights are not set on the moon. our sights are set clearly on mars. >> reporter: but first it has to pass this uncrewed test flight with only mannequins onboard. "artemis" will launch from the kennedy space center but mission control is at the johnson space center in houston, texa...

We have not seen a rocket like this launched since saturn 5 in the '50s and '60s. it's going to lift off from the launch pad. you're going to feel it in your bones, hear that stoppic boom. the sls rocket will separate from the orion crew capsule which is where in feature missions the astronaut will be. then we'll watch this 42-day mission to the orbit of the moon. it's going to orbit the moon for about two weeks. it's going to travel farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has ever flown. it's going to head back to earth, break the earth's atmosphere hitting speeds at half the sur...

There, we're going to be 60 miles off the surface. it's going to be incredible. the pictures that we get as we go by are going to be really impressive. >> reporter: after orbiting the moon for more than two weeks, orion will head back to earth, hitting speeds around 25,000 miles per hour and temperatures half the surface of the sun, something engineers can't replicate here on earth. >> the number one highest priority for our mission is actually to test the heat shield. >> liftoff of shuttle "columbia" -- >> >> reporter: a damaged heat speed that caused "columbia" to burn up on re-entry, killin...

Happens tomorrow and all kinds of science and excitement will take place. back to you. >> a huge step. rachel crane, we know you will be watching it and we'll follow the developments with you. let's get scott kelly in here, retired nasa astronaut with several tours aboard the international space station. scott, great to see you as always. there haven't been boots on the moon for, what, 50 years, for folks at home thinking well, we did this already. i think i saw a movie about it. what is the significance of this mission? >> you made a great point, jim, it was 50 years ago when you think how we...