Takeoff to the moon scheduled for Saturday, after the first postponement
The launch on Monday was canceled due to technical issues. Weather should allow the rocket to take off on Saturday at 8:17 pm French time.
It seems that the stars are gradually aligning with the launch of the new car NASA rocket to the moon Saturday, September 3rd, thanks to the encouraging weather forecast and resolution of technical issues that caused the launch to be delayed earlier this week. Take off is scheduled for 2:17 p.m. local time (8:17 p.m.) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but it’s still possible within the next two hours if needed.
The chance of favorable weather during this shooting window is 60%. “The weather looks good“It shouldn’t be”blockingConfirmed Thursday at a press conference Melody Lovin, charged with analyzing the weather forecast. NASA has also been working since Monday to resolve technical issues that caused the liftoff to be canceled at the last minute.
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“no guarantee”
The first concerns the cooling of one of the four main engines, which is a necessary process before ignition. By allowing some of the cooled fuel to escape from the engines, they gradually reach the desired lower temperature. But the data collected indicated there was a problem with one of them. The engineers haveIndependent analyzes confirmed that the sensor is defectiveJohn Honeycutt, who is responsible for the missile program, said at a news conference Thursday. In the future, this sensor will simply be discarded.
The second problem was solved: a leak was observed on Monday when filling the fuel tanks. “We were able to find what we think is causing the leak and fix itsaid launch director Charlie Blackwell Thompson. The Artemis 1 mission is a test flight without an astronaut on board. This will be the first takeoff of the SLS missile, which has been in development for more than a decade to become the most powerful in the world. “There is no guarantee that we will take off on Saturday, but we will tryMike Sarafin, in charge of the expedition, announced modestly.
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If it were actually launched that day, the Orion capsule above the rocket would spend about 38 days in space. It will be placed in orbit around the Moon after approaching its surface at a distance of only about 100 kilometers. Future astronauts will be on this ship – including the first woman and first person of color to walk on the moon, in 2025 at the earliest. The Artemis program, named after Apollo’s twin sister, is NASA’s new flagship program for many years to come. On the moon, the space agency wants to test the technologies needed to send the first humans to Mars.