UNITED STATES: NASA is hopeful that the much-anticipated Artemis 1 lunar mission will launch on November 14 despite experiencing several technical and weather-related obstacles earlier.
A third attempt to launch the large, next-generation rocketship was planned for November 14 by the US space agency.
After two failed launch attempts on August 29 and September 3, NASA was obliged to return the massive rocketship to its hangar last month due to safety restrictions and worsening weather brought on by Hurricane Ian.
On November 4, at 9:30 p.m. Friday, NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida will once again roll out the Artemis 1.
The mission stack includes the enormous Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.
According to NASA, the rocket, its satellite payloads, and the flight-termination system all require routine battery recharges or replacements, and these tasks still need to be completed at the launch pad.
The hydrogen fuel leak that forced the officials to cancel the final countdown three hours before liftoff has since been rectified, according to earlier assertions by NASA officials.
According to NASA, a backup launch opportunity of two hours each is scheduled for November 16 and 19.
The newly planned 69-minute launch window for the Artemis I mission on November 14 opens at 12:07 a.m. EST (0407 GMT).
After a rocket development programme that took more than ten years to complete, the most recent set of problems in recent months have emerged.
The SLS and Orion contracts between NASA, Boeing Co., and Lockheed Martin Corp., respectively, have seen years of delays and cost overruns amounting to billions of dollars.
NASA’s post-Apollo human spaceflight programme with Artemis I has reached a significant turning point.
A half-century after the last lunar mission of Apollo, the Artemis program’s forerunner, Artemis I, would be the first launch of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft. It would launch the Orion spacecraft to the moon and back for an unmanned test voyage.
Last but not least, NASA hopes to establish a long-term lunar base of operations as the first step for even more ambitious human trips to Mars.
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