By Charlie Levin
In a speech during his presidency, John F. Kennedy, according to NPR, stated, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” He set forth a goal, and later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong said these historic words: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Now, we are going back to the moon. If this mission succeeds, hopefully a colony will be formed on the moon, paving the way for colonization of Mars. The Artemis Program is set to make history once again, puting the first woman and person of color on the moon. The series will consist of Artemis 1, the first mission which will take place this month, Artemis 2, the second which will be a test flight to orbit the moon and with people as passengers in 2024, and Artemis 3, the third, to put the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface in 2025.
The first mission, Artemis 1, will be an uncrewed mission to the moon and beyond, taking place in late September to early October. It was postponed twice, originally scheduled for the 29th of August then the 3rd of September, and now the 27th of this month.
However, the first mission of the Artemis Program has yet to be a success.
On August 29, the original launch date, NASA discovered an issue with one of the liquid fuel engines. According to CNBC, the manager of the SLS (Space Launch System) said that NASA believed it to be a problem with a sensor. According to Nature.com, it was caused by lightning at the launch pad, which was followed by two hydrogen leaks discovered later that day.
It was then postponed for September 3rd; however, more problems arose. As the engines were being fueled, another hydrogen leak was discovered.
Currently, the mission is set for a launch date of no later than September 27th, but only time will tell whether that deadline stands or not.
