NASA launches Artemis 1 lunar mission

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NASA launched the Artemis 1 mission early this Wednesday (16), the first flight of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion capsule, destined to take humans back to the Moon.

The rocket launched into a burst of lights just over 40 minutes after the two-hour window opened at 3:47 am (GMT). The 32-story SLS took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States.

It was the third attempt to launch the first flight of the SLS rocket. NASA aborted two launch attempts, in late August and September, due to technical problems.

The mission involves taking the capsule into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, where it will stay for about a week, before returning to Earth. The forecast is that the return will happen on December 11th.

After nearly two decades, the mission is the first step towards the resumption of manned exploration of deep space by the United States.

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