space travel
Another “Artemis” launch attempt on Tuesday
The “Artemis I” at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. photo
© Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via ZUMA Press/dpa/archive image
NASA wants to stick to the schedule for another launch attempt for the “Artemis” moon mission. However, the chance of a start on Tuesday is small.
For now, the US space agency NASA wants to hold onto another launch attempt on Tuesday for the problem-plagued lunar mission “Artemis” – weather could necessitate another postponement, however.
Due to an approaching hurricane, the chance that weather conditions will allow a launch is currently only 20 percent, NASA said at a news conference.
A final decision must be made over the weekend. Another window foresees a launch of the unmanned rocket between October 17 and 31. On Wednesday, another leak occurred during a tank test. Nevertheless, the test was completed according to plan and all targets were achieved. About three weeks ago, two attempts to launch the unmanned rocket failed – partly due to a leaking fuel hose.
The missile system was then provisionally returned to the hangar in the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida. Problems had also arisen in previous “Artemis” tests, which ultimately resulted in a significant delay in the project.
Though it’s initially going to be an unmanned test flight to the moon, with the program named after the Greek goddess of the moon, American astronauts would land on the moon again in a few years.