NASA/Ben Smegelski Have you heard of the largest rocket launch in human history? It’s getting almost zero press coverage, but before dawn on Monday, August 29, 2022, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will make its maiden voyage. It is now at the launch site in Florida. It is the first step in a flight program to find the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon by 2025. Part of the Artemis-1 mission, SLS carries NASA’s new Orion spacecraft to the Moon and back on a daring 1.3 million-mile journey beyond the Moon lasting 42 days, 3 hours and 20 minutes. It will launch off San Diego on October 10, 2022. There will be no astronauts on Orion this time—this is simple practice—but the sights and sounds of the largest rocket launch ever are not to be missed.

When is NASA Artemis-1 launching?

The autonomous uncrewed Artemis-1 mission will launch between 8:33 and 10:33 am. EST on Monday, August 29, 2022 from Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. If weather or some other misfortune prevents it, the next launch window is noon on Friday, September 2, 2022.

How to watch a live stream of Artemis-1

Coverage begins at 6:30am. EST on NASA TV, which can be found on YouTube (below), the NASA website, Facebook, Twitch and in 4k on the NASA UHD channel. Although it’s the launch you’ll be tuning in for, you’ll be back later for live views of Earth from orbit and during Orion’s outbound coast to the Moon. The exact time depends on the exact take off time, but it is 5:30pm. EST if takeoff is scheduled at 8:33 A.M. EST.

How to Watch a Live Stream of Artemis-1 in Virtual Reality

It will also be possible to monitor the traffic in 360º through a virtual reality (VR) headset. Space Explorers: Artemis Ascending from Felix & Paul Studios—with commentary by retired NASA astronauts Karen Nyberg and Doug Hurley—will stream live on:

How big and powerful is the SLS?

At 322 feet tall, the SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket to launch since NASA’s last Saturn V “Moon rocket” launched the Skylab space station into Earth orbit in 1973. With a thrust of 8.8 million pounds (3.9 million kg), SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built. It may soon be surpassed by SpaceX’s Starship, but right now it’s the biggest ever.

What is Artemis-1?

Artemis-1 is an uncrewed flight test mission during which NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the European Services Model (ESM) and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) – the world’s most powerful rocket – will fly to Moon. The spacecraft and rocket will launch, orbit Earth, and then send Orion and ESM into an elliptical orbit around the Moon that will see them come within 62 miles of the Moon’s surface and about 40,000 miles beyond her. That’s farther than any spacecraft built for astronauts has ever flown.

What is Artemis-2?

Scheduled for 2024, Artemis-2 will repeat the shorter 10-day duration of Artemis-1, but with four astronauts on board to test Orion’s life support systems. Artemis-2 will orbit Earth twice before going 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the Moon. It will be the first manned lunar flight of the 21st century.

What is Artemis-3?

Artemis-3, slated for 2025 or later, will be the first time astronauts have landed on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 left the moon in December 1972. A 30-day mission will see Orion – with four astronauts aboard – rendezvous with an embryonic lunar orbital platform-gate, before a female astronaut and a male astronaut descend on a SpaceX Starship vehicle to the lunar surface near Shackleton Crater at the Moon’s south pole. The mission will include four spacewalks over 6.5 days. Further Artemis missions each year until 2030 will help build the Lunar Gateway housing module and land three more times on the lunar surface. And it all starts on Monday! Do not miss it! I wish you clear skies and open eyes.