Post-launch timeline: NASA's Artemis I mission to the moon and back

Emre Kelly, Florida Today
·2 min read
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Update (Tuesday, Aug. 30): NASA is now targeting no earlier than Saturday, Sept. 3, for the next attempt at launching SLS on Artemis I. The two-hour window opens at 2:17 p.m. EDT. Read our full preview story here.

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Update: Scrub! No Artemis I launch today due to technical issues with the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center. The next opportunity to fly is Friday, Sept. 2, but only if the technical issues can be resolved in time. Stay tuned at floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

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NASA's Space Launch System rocket, set to launch the Artemis I mission on Aug. 29, will boost an uncrewed Orion capsule to the moon and back over a 42-day test flight.

The long-duration mission will test what astronauts should later experience on subsequent flights (Artemis II no earlier than 2024 and Artemis III sometime after 2025). The latter mission is expected to put two astronauts on the lunar surface before establishing a permanent presence later in the 2020s.

The No. 1 priority for Artemis I, according to NASA officials, is testing Orion's heat shield during re-entry as it travels some 25,000 mph.

Here's the full post-launch mission timeline courtesy of NASA:

Flight Day 1

  • 8:33 a.m.: Liftoff

  • 8:35:12 a.m. - Solid Rocket Booster separation (Mission Elapsed Time 00:02:12)

  • 8:36:13 a.m. - Service module fairing jettison (MET 00:03:13)

  • 8:36:19 a.m. - Launch abort system jettison (MET 00:03:19)

  • 8:41:04 a.m. – Core stage main engine cutoff commanded (MET 00:08:04)

  • 8:41:16 a.m. – Core Stage/ICPS separation (MET 00:08:16)

  • 8:51:10 a.m. – Orion Solar Array Wing Deploy Begins (MET 00:18:20)

    • Approximately 12 minutes in duration(~60 miles)

  • 9:24:22 a.m. – Perigee Raise Maneuver (MET 00:51:22)

    • 22 seconds in duration

  • 10:11:03 a.m. – Trans-lunar injection (MET 01:38:03)

    • 17 minute, 59 second burn

  • 11:39:10 a.m. – Orion/ICPS separation (MET 02:06:10)

  • 11:40:31 a.m. – Upper Stage Separation Burn (MET 02:07:31)

  • 12:03:10 p.m. – ICPS Disposal Burn (MET 03:30:10)

  • 4:29:05 p.m. – Outbound Trajectory Correction-1 burn (MET 07:56:05)

    • First service module burn

Flight Day 2-5 - Outbound transit

Flight day 6-9 - Transit to Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Moon

  • Flight Day 6 (9/3): Outbound Powered Fly-by (burn 9:11 p.m.), Lunar Closest Approach (~60 miles)

Flight Day 10-23 - In DRO

  • Flight Day 10 (9/7): DRO Insertion (burn 8:54 a.m.)

  • Flight Day 11 (9/8): Orion passes Apollo 13 Record

Flight Day 24-34 - Exit DRO

  • Flight Day 24 (9/21): DRO Departure (burn 2:52 a.m.)

  • Flight Day 26: (9/23): Max distance from Earth

Flight Day 35-42 - Return transit

  • Flight Day 35 (10/3): Return Flyby (burn 12:06 a.m.), Second Closest Approach (~500 miles)

Flight Day 43 (10/10) - Entry and splashdown (11:53 a.m.)

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Timeline: NASA's Artemis I mission to the moon and back