As NASA’s Artemis II astronauts return to Earth after their breathtaking encounter with the moon earlier this week, the space agency has just released some stunning footage (below) of the rocket launch that sent the crew on their way on April 1.
The close-up shows the impressive performance of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s four RS-25 core engines and its two solid rocket boosters as the 98-meter-tall vehicle roars away from the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The SLS produces a whopping 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch, about 1.2 million pounds more thrust than the Apollo-era Saturn V rocket of five decades ago and about half as much as SpaceX’s Starship rocket in development, itself intended to one day fly to the moon.
NASA’s rocket is powered by a mix of high-performance engines on its stages. Its core stage uses four liquid-fueled RS-25 engines that burn liquid hydrogen and oxygen to produce extremely efficient thrust. What’s notable is that these core stage boosters are actually repurposed hardware from the Space Shuttle, which NASA decommissioned in 2011.
The vehicle also uses two massive solid rocket boosters that provide the bulk of the launch power to propel the massive vehicle and the Orion spacecraft carrying its crew into space.
Orion carried the crew farther from Earth than ever before as the spacecraft looped around the moon earlier this week.
In addition to collecting new data about the moon, the mission is also testing the spacecraft for human use ahead of future Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the lunar surface, possibly as early as 2028.
After eight days in space, the four Artemis II astronauts now have their sights firmly set on Earth and are preparing to splash in the sea off the coast of California on Friday in what promises to be an unforgettable homecoming.
For more information on how to watch the final moments of the Artemis II mission, visit Daily Sparkz.
