For the first time in 50 years, NASA is making a trip to the moon, this time in a rocket named The Artemis I. Unlike the last trip, the Orion capsule contains three crash test dummies instead of astronauts on the 25-day trip. NASA hopes the new data will make for a safer manned mission, calling it a “dress rehearsal.”
According to the Associated Press, on Nov. 16, 15,000 spectators cheered and applauded at the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral as they witnessed the thrusters underneath the rocket light up and blast off launch pad 39B and then slice through the Earth’s atmosphere at 1,120 mph. Not long after that, the capsule named Orion detached from the rocket, embarking on its journey to the moon.