NASA is targeting 11:17 a.m. PDT on Saturday, Sept. 3, for the launch of Artemis I, the first integrated test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There is a two-hour launch window for the next attempt.
This uncrewed flight test around the Moon will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley invites media to interview subject matter experts Eugene Tu, Jeremy Vander Kam, Nettie Roozeboom, and Stephen Walker to talk about the center’s contributions to this historic agency milestone which dates back to 2006 when development and testing of the Orion heat shield began.
Live coverage of events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. A livestream of the rocket and spacecraft at the launch pad currently is available on the NASA Kennedy YouTube channel.
Media requesting a virtual interview with one of the above subject matter experts from Ames Research Center should email the Ames Office of Communications at arc-dl-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov or call the newsroom at 650-604-4789.
A media resource reel is available upon request.
For countdown coverage on NASA’s Artemis blog and launch updates, visit:
For more information about the Artemis I mission, visit:
Tu is the center director at Ames, where he leads a staff of civil servants and contractors in providing critical research and development support that makes the aeronautics and space missions of NASA and the nation possible.
Vander Kam has overseen the full lifecycle of the Orion TPS design, including the recovery operations and TPS inspections of the first Exploration Flight Test – something he will repeat for Artemis I.
Roozeboom helped test the SLS, NASA’s powerful new rocket, in wind tunnels at Ames.
Walker is part of the BioSentinel team, which will run the first long-duration biology experiment to take place beyond low-Earth orbit. BioSentinel is a CubeSat, or small satellite that will ride to space on the Space Launch System rocket and be deployed after the Orion spacecraft is flying on its own toward the Moon.
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Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley
650-604-4789
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov