Space Launch System

Artemis is Nasa’s new Moon program, and the upcoming flight on 29 August is dubbed Artemis I

NASA successfully carried out a key static test of its troubled Space Launch System rocket on March 18, a win for the agency as it prepares to return to the Moon.

NASA conducted a test firing of the engines for its giant Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on Jan. 16 but they shut down earlier than planned, the space agency said.

The "hot-fire" test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was supposed to last a little over eight minutes - the time the engines would burn in flight - but they shut down just over a minute into the burn.

The Japanese government has decided that the country will join NASA's program to colonize the moon, which moves the landing to the lunar surface in 2024, the Kyodo news agency said.

The decision will be formally announced by the end of this year. NASA has announced that the new moon assimilation program has been named "Artemis." It will consist of three stages.

A NASA mission to the Moon next year aims to assess the impact of cosmic rays on the human body using a system devised and produced by Greek startup Herado, founded by Dr Marianthi Frangopoulou.

According to NASA, only minor injuries were reported and NASA employees and other tenants were accounted for. The onsite emergency response team conducted a damage assessments of buildings and facilities.

The Michoud Assembly Facility is currently manufacturing and assembling the core stage of NASA’s next-generation heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former space shuttle commander, said that the dream of sending a manned mission to planet Mars is closer to reality than ever before.