'It didn't end with Apollo 17 - this time we're going back, we're going to learn, and then we're going to Mars - with humans.'Ī big part of the Artemis mission objective is about laying the groundwork for a trip to the red planet in the future, by establishing a base on the moon that could see astronauts stay there for weeks or months at a time. He compared Artemis to the space agency's Apollo programme, which last put man on the moon as part of Apollo 17 in 1972. 'You definitely knew there was some energy being expended over there!' The boss of NASA has been giving his reaction to the launch, hailing the launch team as 'part of a great legacy'.īill Nelson, administrator of the space agency, said he watched the launch from the roof of the launch centre.

The other directors are launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, who we heard from after the successful launch, and landing and recovery director Melissa Jones, whose team won't come into play until within days of the mission's return to Earth.

There are two flight directors for Artemis 1: Rick LaBrode and Judd Frieling.Įach team within the mission has its own directors - for example, the overarching mission management team based at Kennedy Space Center is led by Mike Sarafin, who provides oversight and makes critical decisions during the entire mission. This role leads the team of flight controllers, research and engineering experts, and support personnel, and makes real-time decisions throughout the mission. The flight director is the captain on the ground in all but name. The image below shows the layout of the so-called White Flight Control Room at the centre. The control room is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make sure everything goes smoothly. While the launch site is in Florida, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston is where the flight control team is.Īfter launch controllers at Cape Canaveral conducted the countdown, the team at Mission Control Center in the Texas city takes over all the way until Orion splashes back down on Earth in the weeks ahead.

Nasa space center cape canaveral