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The most powerful rocket in the world, SLS, took off on Wednesday for the first time from Florida, noted an AFP journalist on the spot. The mission marks the grand debut of the US lunar return program, Artemis.
For this test flight launched 50 years following the last flight of the Apollo program, the Orion capsule, which has no astronaut on board, will not land on the Moon but will venture up to 64,000 km behind it, a record for a habitable ship.
The purpose of this Artemis 1 mission, which should last a little over 25 days, is to verify that this new vessel is safe to transport a crew to the Moon in the next few years.
/ATS