Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, humanity is ready to return to the moon with Artemis I. The launch, scheduled for 29 August 2022, has been postponed to 3 September due to a technical problem with one of the engines of the giant rocket that will carry Orion, an unmanned capsule, to our natural satellite. For NASA, Artemis I is the first step toward Mars; in fact, according to U.S. scientists, the mission will be used to test the technologies needed to take astronauts first to the moon and then, perhaps, to the red planet. The mission will last 42 days, during which the capsule will orbit the Moon before returning to Earth. Three dummies equipped with sensors to detect acceleration, vibration, temperature and radiation, parameters to be measured and limited to preserve the health of future astronauts, will be placed on the seats of the Orion capsule.
The name was not chosen randomly: for Greek mythology, Artemis was the goddess of the Moon and twin sister of the god Apollo; a symbolic name that marks continuity with historic space missions.
