"The Artemis programme marks the next chapter of human space exploration and we look forward to continued involvement as it comes to life."
NASA will launch its new moon rocket later today, marking the next chapter in putting humans back on the moon. The flight is the first in the agency's Artemis programme and will be uncrewed this time. However, there will be astronauts on board for subsequent missions, with the first crewed flight into space scheduled for 2024. NASA expects the first Artemis astronauts to land on the moon in 2025. The Artemis 1 mission will see the first launch of the new 322ft (98-metre) tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which the agency says is the world's most powerful rocket to date.
"Everything to date looks good from a vehicle perspective," said Jeff Spaulding, senior NASA test director for the landmark mission, called Artemis I. "We are excited, the vehicle is ready, it looks great."
Although lightning rods at the launch site were struck during a storm on Saturday, Spaulding said he has not "seen anything on the ground systems that give us any concerns." NASA said there was no damage to the spacecraft or launch facilities.
Airbus engineer Sian Cleaver is industrial manager for the ESM, and as a child dreamt about being involved in human spaceflight before getting a master's degree in physics and astronomy from Durham University.
She told the PA news agency: "I'm ridiculously excited, and I think everybody on the team is.
"There's years and years of a labour of love into this project.
"This is the first time that we will have seen one of our European service modules flying in space and going to the moon.
"I think a lot of us couldn't quite believe it - we've now got the go for launch.
"Now, I think it's really sinking in that this is reality, this is happening, and it's going to really start this whole new chapter of space exploration, and going to the moon.
"We're on the brink of something really exciting now."
The Artemis program seeks to eventually establish a long-term lunar base as a stepping stone to even more ambitious astronaut voyages to Mars, a goal that NASA officials have said will probably take until at least the late 2030s to achieve.
If the first two Artemis missions succeed, NASA is aiming to land astronauts back on the moon, including the first woman to set foot on the lunar surface, as early as 2025, though many experts believe that time frame is likely to slip by a few years. The last humans to walk on the moon were the two-man descent team of Apollo 17 in 1972, following in the footsteps of 10 other astronauts during five earlier missions beginning with Apollo 11 in 1969.e.
