Many people have asked, “Why the moon? We have already been there.”

But according to experts, the moon is imperative to our aspirations for going deeper and deeper into space; to deliver humans and their systems into that deep space; and to ultimately put them on the face of our nearest planet, Mars.

Demonstration of the various components making up the SLS rocket.

“SLS is a result of a national effort with the ability to evolve and support our deep space aspirations,” said Singer. “It’s not just the first mission, it is missions to come and how we are going to evolve and support and deliver humans and their systems in one launch, into deep space. Artemis’ lunar exploration crew will establish a long-term presence on the moon and ultimately help us understand what it takes to live off-planet so we can make our next great leap into deep space and to Mars.”

SLS is the only rocket right now, capable, with the Orion crew capsule holding astronauts and cargo, to get us to the moon in a single mission. When Artemis launches, SLS will be the most powerful rocket in the world. As this advanced space craft circles the moon, it will demonstrate a complex integration of many systems and components working together.

It will also be carrying several hitchhikers in the form of science experiments. These experiments will deploy on their own and show what space exploration looks like.

“SLS will be a continuous steppingstone to preparing us for the next phase of the next missions that carry our astronauts back to the moon,” said Singer. “Artemis will be around for a long time.”

“Since 1953, Huntsville has been known as the Rocket City, and it is about to ‘Rock-it’ one more time as we take ourselves back into deep space, and from there, we go beyond,” said Mayor Battle. “I am very proud to be a part of a city that can put that together – to produce systems and propulsion systems that can take us back into deep space and bring us back safely to earth.

“So, let’s go – let’s go to the moon!”