Artemis I Liftoff Activities

Former space shuttle Launch Directors Mike Leinbach, left, and Bob Sieck, shake hands inside Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022 after the successful launch of the agency’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39B 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.

Former space shuttle Launch Directors Mike Leinbach, left, and Bob Sieck, shake hands inside Launch Control Center Firing Room 1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022 after the successful launch of the agency’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39B 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.

Photographer NASA/Kim Shiflett
Album Artemis_I_Launch
Exploration Ground SystemsEGSArtemisArtemis ISpace Launch SystemSLSOrionKennedy Space CenterKSCLaunch Pad 39BMoonMoon to MarsHuman Exploration