NASA eyes November for launch try of Moon rocket

NASA stated Friday it might 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 area 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 group will assess circumstances and vital work and “determine a selected date for the following launch try.”

Officers had up to now refused to utterly shut the door on an earlier try in October.

The SLS rocket, probably the most highly effective ever designed by NASA, needed to be returned to its storage hangar at Kennedy Area Heart on Tuesday to be able to shelter it from the method 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, can 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 improvement 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 shall be used to make sure that the Orion capsule, on the prime of the rocket, is secure to move a crew to the Moon sooner or later.

© 2022 AFP