Space: NASA’s new massive rocket could blast off to the moon on September 23 or 27

NASA may attempt to launch its new massive rocket on the moon on September 23 or 27, after two attempts were thwarted due to technical problems, announced Thursday, September 8, Jim Frey, a senior agency official. American Space, during a press conference. This highly anticipated test flight of the Artemis 1 mission, with no crew on board, should test the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in real conditions and the Orion capsule at its summit, where future astronauts will run.

Canceled at the last minute

Jim Frye said the potential shooting window on September 23 will begin at 06:47 local time, while the window of the 27 will open at 11:37 local time. A planned liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was called off at the last minute on Saturday for the second time in a week, a setback that delayed the actual launch of the US program to the moon, Artemis.

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The problem of fuel leakage began early in the morning, during the operations of filling missile tanks. The orange and white SLS missile, which has never flown before, has been in development for more than a decade to become the most powerful in the world.

Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, Artemis 1 should make it possible to verify that the Orion capsule, located on top of the rocket, is safe to transport astronauts to the moon in the future.

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In this first mission, Orion will venture up to 64,000 kilometers behind the Moon, farther than any other habitable spacecraft to date. The main objective is to test the heat shield, the largest shield ever built. Returning to the Earth’s atmosphere, it will have to withstand a speed of 40,000 km / h and a temperature half the temperature of the surface of the Sun.