Five days to try again. NASA will make a second attempt to launch its powerful new lunar rocket on Saturday, September 3, after canceling a test flight earlier in the week. Takeoff was scheduled for Monday morning, but was postponed because a test to bring one of the rocket’s four RS-25 engines to the correct temperature for launch was unsuccessful. Mike Sarafin, head of the Artemis 1 mission at NASA, announced during a media briefing the date of the new launch attempt, a fundamental step in the US program to bring astronauts back to the moon.
Space
Why Artemis’ launch to the Moon was canceled and when will the next attempt be
by Matteo Marini
Artemis 1’s goal, named after the Apollo twin sister, is to test the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. The mission is unmanned: mannequins equipped with sensors replace the astronauts and record the levels of acceleration, vibrations and radiation. Tens of thousands of people, including United States Vice President Kamala Harris, gathered to watch the launch, which takes place 50 years after Apollo 17 astronauts last set foot on the moon.
Mission to the Moon, Parmitano: “I dream big, I want to walk on that ground”
by Matteo Marini
The launch window will open on Saturday at 2:17 pm local time (8:17 pm in Italy). The countdown at Kennedy Space Center is still set at 40 minutes before launch. At the moment there is a 40% chance of rain.