NASA cancels the launch of the Artemis lunar mission rocket

First modification: 08/29/2022 – 15:18

The launch of NASA’s new megarocket to the Moon was scheduled for 8:33 a.m. local time in Florida but was canceled on Monday due to a technical problem with one of the main enginesindicated the US space agency, adding that the solution will take at least a few days.

If the glitch is resolved, the next possible launch date for the unmanned mission, which will mark the start of Artemis, America’s great space program back to the Moon, is between September 2 and 5.

Everything was ready this Monday, August 29, for the launch of the 98-meter-high orange and white SLS rocket. The megarocket’s tanks were filled with more than three million liters of ultracold liquid hydrogen and oxygen. But the filling started an hour late due to a high risk of lightning strikes in the middle of the night.

A leak then caused a pause in the filling of the main stage with hydrogen, before a solution was found and flow resumed.

At around 07:00 local time a new and decisive problem arose: one of the four RS-25 engines under the main deck of the rocket could not reach the desired temperature, a necessary condition for ignition.

The countdown then stopped and, after more than an hour and a half of waiting and trying to fix the problem, NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson made the final decision to cancel the liftoff.

Hopes and dreams

Thousands of people flocked to the Kenddy Space Center in Florida to see the show, including US Vice President Kamala Harris.

The mission consists of putting the unmanned Orion capsule into orbit around the Moon to verify that the vehicle is safe for future astronauts, including the first woman and the first “colored” person to set foot on the lunar surface.

Also read: Heading for the Moon and Mars: discover the objectives of the Artemis 1 space mission

with AFP.