DECRYPTION – Monday, the most powerful rocket since the Apollo program will take off for a long automatic flight around the Moon. The first step before the return of American astronauts to our natural satellite, scheduled for 2025.
The show promises to be thunderous. The most powerful rocket ever developed by NASA, and humanity in general, is due to take off Monday morning (midday French time) from launch pad 39B at the Cape Canaveral launch base in Florida. This is the first life-size test for this superheavy launcher called SLS (Space Launch System) which should eventually allow the United States and its partners to return to the Moon to establish astronauts there in a sustainable manner as part of of the Artemis program (goddess of the Moon and sister of Apollo).
More than 100,000 people are expected on the beaches of Florida to attend the firing, scheduled for 8:33 a.m. local time (2:33 p.m. Paris time). The shooting window then spreads over two hours. In case of postponement, two new slots will be possible on September 2 and 5. Beyond that, the rocket, erected on its launch pad for a week, will have to return to the hangar to carry out a certain number of operations…
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