It has been a very long time since we heard the phrase ‘’one small step…’’
Now, fifty years on, Nasa has taken back control of space exploration with he launch of Artemis 1 today, starting at 13.33hrs. Nasa’s space shuttle programme stopped back in 2011. More recently, we have seen the creation of two private American space companies, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, not to mention UK billionaire Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic.
Today’s voyage will cost $93bn. The unmanned blast off will feature a soft toy that will illustrate zero gravity to the scientists by floating around the capsule.
The mission is expected to last 42 days and will travel to the far side of the moon, the same location for the apollo lunar missions five decades ago.
The job of the mission will be to prepare a test capsule called SLS Orion. The spacecraft will loop the moon on a big arc before returning home to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in six weeks’ time.
In moments like this, we are always reminded of President Reagan’s regard for space exploration, and Nasa’s quest to ‘’slip the surly bonds of Earth, and touch the face of God.’’