Nasa has launched its Artemis 1 rocket into space for an uncrewed mission around the Moon.
After several delays caused by technical issues and hurricanes, the Space Launch System, with the Orion spacecraft on top of it, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The $4.1 billion Artemis 1 mission will pave the way for the US space agency to send astronauts to the lunar surface, more than 50 years after the Apollo era ended.
It is the first of many planned missions under the Artemis programme, which will send crewed missions to the Moon before the end of the decade.
The rocket lifted off at 10.53pm GST, generating 3,991 tonnes of thrust and reaching a speed of 40,233kph in about eight minutes to reach space.
In a Nasa live broadcast, the sky turned a bright red as the engines ignited and the rocket blasted off the ground.
The Orion spacecraft will travel to the Moon, where it will spend a few weeks in flight, as mission control measures its performance.
This was the third attempt by Nasa to launch the rocket. Two previous attempts failed owing to hydrogen leaks.
Hurricane Ian also delayed an attempt in late September and the rocket also survived Hurricane Nicole while on the launch pad.
Numerous hurdles
The launch attempt on Wednesday has not been short of obstacles.
Overnight, Nasa began fuelling the rocket. It was able to load 741,940 litres of liquid oxygen into the core stage before engineers detected a hydrogen leak.
A “red team” was sent out to the launch pad to tighten bolts on the valve, which was expected to take only 15 minutes, but it took about an hour.
“Unfortunately, the team here was unable to remedy the leak remotely,” the Nasa TV launch commentator said.
“And so it became necessary to send a crew of individuals called the Red Crew out to the launch pad to make a hands-on fix.”
At about 8am, the red crew completed their work and the liquid hydrogen again started flowing into the tank until it was completely full.
The US Space Force's Eastern Range also had to repair an ethernet switch to restore radar tracking data. That took 70 minutes to fix.
Why is Nasa going to the Moon?
It has been more than 50 years since humankind last set foot on the Moon in the final mission of the Apollo era.
But Nasa wants to return humans to the lunar surface under the Artemis programme and build a small station, called Lunar Gateway, in the Moon's orbit.
The space agency astronauts would be able to live and work on the Moon to carry out research, and eventually send humans to Mars from there.
Artemis 1 will measure the rocket and Orion spacecraft's performance.
The flight will also carry 10 CubeSats — miniature satellites — that will support the mission's investigations.
Artemis 2 will involve sending the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon in 2024.
A crew of four will perform a lunar fly-by for about 21 days before returning to Earth.
Artemis 3 will be the first crewed lunar landing mission, and is likely to include a woman. This mission has been delayed until 2025.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
