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This fall, we are exploring how space inspires progress. Solve space today by unscrambling this image of NASA’s mighty Space Launch System (SLS). This powerful rocket will launch astronauts to the Moon for the Artemis lunar missions, paving the way for future deep space exploration.
Next year, the uncrewed Artemis I mission will prove to be the ultimate test for NASA’s SLS and Orion spacecraft. Learn more about each of these modern marvels below.
The SLS: NASA’s mightiest rocket
With the Artemis generation comes a new, more powerful lunar rocket, the SLS.
It’s NASA’s exploration class rocket, and it’s built to launch Artemis astronauts to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. It can lift heavier payloads and was designed to travel farther and faster than rockets that have preceded it. The SLS is NASA’s mightiest rocket, and will generate 15 percent more thrust than the Apollo-era Saturn V launch vehicle.
Designed to evolve into more robust launch configurations, the SLS will be able to adapt to increasingly complex missions. Just as the Saturn V paved the way for lunar exploration, the SLS will help NASA return astronauts to the Moon, and launch missions to worlds not yet explored.
Click here to learn more about NASA’s SLS and Artemis I.
Orion: NASA’s most advanced space capsule
The SLS will launch astronauts to the Moon, but it will be Orion that carries them there.
This cutting-edge spacecraft has been carefully crafted by NASA to be their safest ever. It has been rigorously tested, and next year, it will be tested again with the Artemis I flight.
The capsule will carry a crew of four and is comprised of three main elements: a launch abort system, a crew module, and a service module.
For Artemis I, Orion will also journey farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever gone, flying approximately 40,000 miles farther than the Moon.
Click here to learn more about Orion and Artemis I.
