According to a statement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch planned for the Artemis 1 lunar mission will not go forward. The management page on Twitter announced the launch’s cancellation owing to technical issues.
Launch of US lunar mission Artemis 1 canceled
On Monday, NASA was preparing to launch an Artemis rocket as part of its first mission to the Moon in five decades, but engine problems forced the launch to be postponed. On August 29, 2022, NASA planned to take the first step towards returning to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era in 1972.
The reason is a hydrogen leak in one of the engines:
Launch of US lunar mission Artemis 1 canceled
However, at the last moment, the mission was rescheduled to approximately September 2, 2022. The reason is a hydrogen leak in one of the engines. It will take some time to fix the problem.
The mission, dubbed Artemis 1, will send an unmanned Orion capsule on a 6-week trip around the moon to investigate the likely effects of the flight on the human body.
In March and June, the rocket launcher already arrived at the launch pad for a dress rehearsal, but in both cases, NASA was faced with a hydrogen leak from the “umbilical cord” of the main stage engine cooling system. If there are any problems today, then another window for launching into space is scheduled for September 2, 2022.
The teams will continue to collect data:
“Artemis I is not launching today as the teams are solving an engine problem. The teams will continue to collect data and we will let you know when the next launch attempt will be,” the agency said on Twitter. “The launch of Artemis I will no longer take place today as the teams address a leak in the engine. The teams will continue to collect data and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next attempt.
The rocket was scheduled to launch between 08:33 and 10:33 US East Coast time from the site of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.
The problem is that the liquid hydrogen injection did not properly cool one of the rocket’s four main stage engines, part of the pre-ignition preparation. Monday was the debut launch of a six-week uncrewed test flight around the moon and back, which was supposed to start the space agency’s multibillion-dollar Artemis successor program to Apollo.
Although there will be no people on board, Orion will carry a simulated crew of three dummies, one male and two females, equipped with sensors to measure radiation levels and other exposures that astronauts would experience in real life.
What is “Artemis”?
The Artemis 1 mission is the first test mission of NASA’s Artemis lunar program. Its main goal is to make sure that the capsule’s heat shield can withstand friction against the atmosphere without problems when returning to Earth.
If the Artemis 1 mission goes as planned, NASA plans to launch a similar mission, known as Artemis 2, but with astronauts on board. And as part of the final mission, Artemis-3, it is planned to land American astronauts on the surface of the moon.
When and where to watch the rocket launch?
The launch of the rocket can be watched through an online broadcast on the official NASA YouTube channel. By the way, the broadcast itself has already started, while you can look at the rocket itself, which is preparing to launch.
If everything goes according to plan, the rocket will launch between 15.30 and 17.30 Kyiv time. If not, the next attempt will be made on September 2 or 6. Earlier, UNIAN reported that Canada volunteered to use a laser “catapult” to launch astronauts to Mars. Local researchers think they can cut the distance traveled to 45 days using a ground-breaking concept.
Flights with the help of a laser catapult can start no earlier than 2040, but for now, the first colonists will have to get to Mars on conventional rockets. SpaceX Musk has calculated that it will take them about six months to fly on conventional fuel.
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