NASA eyes November for launch attempt of Moon rocket

NASA stated Friday it could attempt to launch its Moon mega-rocket in November, with out committing to a exact date for the much-delayed Artemis 1 mission.

The US space company, which was pressured to postpone its newest liftoff try on account of large Hurricane Ian which hammered Florida this week, introduced it was getting ready its subsequent launch window for between November 12 and November 27.

“Over the approaching days,” NASA stated in a weblog publish, the crew will assess situations and needed work and “establish a selected date for the following launch try.”

Officers had thus far refused to utterly shut the door on an earlier try in October.

The SLS rocket, essentially the most highly effective ever designed by NASA, needed to be returned to its storage hangar at Kennedy House Heart on Tuesday in an effort to shelter it from the strategy of Hurricane Ian.

The storm devastated elements of Florida however the rocket itself suffered no injury, NASA stated.

Planning efforts for the November launch window will permit “time for workers at Kennedy to deal with the wants of their households and houses after the storm” and within the run as much as the following mission try.

Elevating the 98-meter-high (320 foot) rocket and transporting it to its launch pad, earlier than configuring it for takeoff, may even take days.

NASA has already made two makes an attempt to launch the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission, in late August and early September, however each needed to be scrapped on the final minute on account of technical issues.

In growth for greater than a decade, SLS has by no means flown earlier than.

Fifty years after the final mission of the Apollo program, Artemis is NASA’s new flagship program.

Artemis 1 will probably be used to make sure that the Orion capsule, on the high of the rocket, is protected to move a crew to the Moon sooner or later.

© 2022 AFP