WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Former space shuttle launch directors Mike Leinbach, at right, and Bob Sieck perform the traditional cutting of the tie for Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson inside the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after the launch of the agency’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft from Launch Complex 39B on Nov. 16, 2022. Liftoff was at 1:47 a.m. EST. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown