# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/ClB5mwNpehM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/1111333-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/354d94f5af.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-11-16T17:09:39.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

We’re going to the Moon. 🚀⁣
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At 1:47 a.m. EST on Nov. 16, 2022, NASA’s Orion spacecraft launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from historic Launch Complex 39B at NASAKennedy Space Center on a path to the Moon, officially beginning the #Artemis I mission.⁣
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This mission is the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, the SLS rocket, and NASAKennedy ground systems. This is the very first time this rocket and spacecraft have flown together, and it’s the first of many Artemis missions to the Moon. Artemis I is uncrewed, but it lays the groundwork for increasingly complex missions that will land humans on the lunar surface, including the first woman and the first person of color to do so.⁣
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With Artemis, we will build a long-term human presence on the Moon, and prepare humanity for future exploration plans to Mars and beyond.⁣
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Over the course of the Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft will travel 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) from Earth and 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) beyond the far side of the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any human spacecraft has without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.⁣
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After almost 26 days in space, Orion will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, 2022.⁣
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Image descriptions:⁣
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1. A long exposure shot captures the rocket’s trail from launch pad into the distance. Several branches near the bottom of the image frame the body of water that divides the space between the photographer and the launch pad.⁣
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2. The SLS rocket lifts off from the launch pad, as billows of smoke surround it. The night-time launch glows its surroundings bright as flames trail the rocket’s jets.⁣
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3. Guests gaze up at the launch as they are backlit by the glow of the rocket. To the left the Vehicle Assembly Building lights up; its American flag and NASA logo are visible. A trail of smoke follows the rocket that at this point has made it past behind a layer of clouds. The Moon glows to the lower right.⁣
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Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls/Keegan Barber⁣
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#Artemis #Artemis1 #ArtemisI #launch #rocket #space #Moon #NASA #SLS #Orion

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## Tags

artemis1, nasa, rocket, launch, space, moon, artemis, artemisi, sls, orion

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