Artemis 1 Takes Off for the Moon from Florida

Artemis 1, officially Artemis I, is an ongoing uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission, the first spaceflight in NASA's Artemis program, and the first flight of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the complete Orion spacecraft.  Artemis 1 was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center on 16 November 2022 at 1:47:44 am EST (6:47:44 UTC).

Formerly known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), the mission was renamed following the creation of the Artemis program. The mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket. The Orion spacecraft has been launched on a mission of between 26 and 42 days, with at least 6 of those days in a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon.  After reaching Earth orbit and performing a trans-lunar injection (burn to the Moon), the mission will deploy ten CubeSat satellites. The Orion spacecraft will later enter a distant retrograde orbit for six days. The Orion spacecraft will then return and reenter the Earth's atmosphere, protected by its heat shield, and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission will certify Orion and the Space Launch System for crewed flights beginning with Artemis 2.  After the Artemis 1 mission, Artemis 2 will perform a crewed lunar flyby and Artemis 3 will perform a crewed lunar landing, five decades after the last lunar Apollo mission.

The Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1 was stacked on 20 October 2021, marking the first time a super-heavy-lift vehicle has been stacked inside NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) since the final Saturn V in 1973. On 17 August 2022, the fully stacked vehicle was rolled out for launch, after a series of delays caused by difficulties in pre-flight testing. The first two launch attempts were canceled, due to faulty reading on 29 August 2022, and a hydrogen leak during fueling on 3 September 2022, respectively.

Planned Mission Profile

Artemis 1 was launched on the Block 1 variant of the Space Launch System.  The Block 1 vehicle consists of a core stage, two five-segment solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and an upper stage. The core stage uses four RS-25D engines, all of which have previously flown on Space Shuttle missions. The core and boosters together produce 39,000 kN (8,800,000 lb) of thrust at liftoff. The upper stage, known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), is based on the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage and is powered by a single RL10B-2 engine on the Artemis 1 mission.

Once in orbit, the ICPS fired its engine to perform a trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn, which placed the Orion spacecraft and ten CubeSats on a trajectory to the Moon. Orion then separated from the ICPS and continued its coast into lunar space. Following Orion separation, the ICPS Stage Adapter deployed ten CubeSats that will conduct scientific research and perform technology demonstrations.

The Orion spacecraft will spend approximately three weeks in space, including six days in a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the Moon.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_1