NASA rules out third lunar rocket launch attempt in coming days
The unmanned SLS rocket is designed to launch an Orion capsule into space
© AFP
After the launch of the Artemis 1 moon mission was again canceled, the US space agency NASA has ruled out a third attempt in the coming days. The launch window, which lasted until Tuesday, is “not on the table anymore,” NASA manager Jim Free told reporters on Saturday. He did not mention a new date.
The maiden flight of the new American moon rocket was postponed for the second time shortly before its planned take-off in Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida. The reason was a fuel leak. The start was canceled for the first time on Monday due to technical problems. The next launch windows are from September 19 to October 4 and from October 17 to October 31.
NASA has set itself an ambitious goal: 50 years after the last moon landing, it wants to send another rocket to the moon. The unmanned SLS rocket is designed to launch an Orion capsule into space. The Orion capsule will then orbit the moon at a distance of about 100 kilometers. Then it would have to penetrate as far as 64,000 kilometers behind the moon – that would be a record for a spaceship that would have to carry people.
The Artemis 1 mission is expected to last several weeks. Among other things, Germany contributes to the NASA mission with the service and propulsion module Orion, which is mainly built in Germany. The follow-up mission Artemis 2 should bring astronauts into orbit around the moon, with Artemis 3 a moon landing should be successful at the earliest in 2025.