Gerry Palmers Science 08.26.2022 23:Aug PM EDT

VP Kamala Harris to Attend, Speak at Artemis 1 Launch, Declare ‘US Leadership in Space Exploration’

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to attend the historic launch of the Artemis 1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 29th.

While at the launch, Harris, who also chairs the National Space Council, will give a speech on the historical importance of NASA's Artemis program that will seek to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon, a White House official told Space.com in an email on Thursday (Aug. 24).

Harris' appearance and speech at the Artemis 1 launch will happen two weeks before the forthcoming National Space Council meeting. The council is set to meet on Sept. 9 in part to create a "new rules framework" for commercial space that Harris revealed on Aug. 14.

Bustling Space-Related Activity at White House

Much space-related activity has been very going on in the White House in recent weeks. U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled an ultradeep view of galaxies snapped by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on July 11th, and on signed the first NASA authorization bill to pass Congress in five years on August 9. Included in the bill is the authorization for NASA to extend participation in the International Space Station (ISS) program to 2030.

Harris' Artemis 1 launch speech will be about the "United States' leadership in space exploration," at a time when that leadership is being challenged on multiple fronts.

This includes a new push by Russia to set forth on its own in space exploration efforts after moves to bolt the International Space Station, wherein it has shared leadership with the U.S. for many years. This was due to U.S.-led sanctions on Russia for its unprovoked military operations in Ukraine, which has broken many of Russia's space partnerships.

NASA has maintained that its relations with Russia's space agency, Roskosmos, remain unaffected in matters regarding the ISS. That said, Russia announced last month that it plans to withdraw from the ISS program at some point after 2024 to redirect its resources to an independent Russian space station.

Many Nations Sign Artemis Accords

As part of the Artemis program, NASA seeks new partnerships with nations having existing space programs to work with the U.S. space agency in a framework to bring forth international norms for space exploration. Over 20 countries have signed the framework-building Artemis Accords, with Japan, Canada, and European nations receiving astronaut seats on future missions for their efforts on the framework.

Running years behind its target schedule and taking billions of dollars over its original budget, Artemis' Space Launch System - SLS - rocket is finally ready for liftoff from pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in a two-hour window beginning at 8:33 a.m. EDT (12 nn GMT) Monday. Weather forecasters are predicting a 70% chance of good weather.

Constructed using left-over space shuttle components, a newly built core stage, and a modified upper stage used by another rocket, the 322-foot tall SLS rocket is set to weigh 5.75 million pounds once 750,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen rocket fuel are pumped in the spacecraft on August 29th.