NASA launches Artemis rocket on a mission to the moon
CBSN
In a jaw-dropping spectacle, the 322-foot-tall Artemis moon rocket, the most powerful ever built for NASA, finally blasted off Wednesday with an eruption of white-hot fire and an earth-shaking roar, boosting an uncrewed Orion capsule on a flight to the moon to open a new era in American space flight.
After multiple delays due to repeated hydrogen fuel leaks, ground system glitches, two hurricanes and back-to-back launch slips, the Space Launch System rocket's four main engines finally roared to life at 1:47 a.m. EST, followed a few seconds later by ignition of two extended strap-on solid-fuel boosters.
At that instant, four explosive bolts at the base of each booster detonated to free the SLS from its launch stand and the 5.7-million pound rocket leaped away from pad 39B, propelled skyward by 8.8 million pounds of thrust, hitting 70 mph — straight up — in about 7 seconds.
