This February NASA is targeting a February launch for its very first rocket launch to the moon since 1972, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to set foot on the lunar surface. The launch, a solar array-sending Space Launch System, will be the largest and most powerful rocket ever built.
“This will be the big event in US space history and we’re really very excited about that,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, according to CNBC. He also acknowledged that the agency has had problems with the rocket’s proven launch pad, Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, which is attached to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building, as some of the windows were damaged by the force of the rocket’s explosion during a test last year.
NASA plans to launch three rocket missions in 2019 — including a deep space moon mission — before retiring its next-generation rocket in 2021.
Read the full story at CNBC.
Related
Senators criticize NASA for not flying Orion to space
NASA’s Orion spacecraft may fly to space between August and December
Spacesuits show mood swings that could be characterized as ‘alien’ behavior