Launch Of NASA’s Giant Moon Rocket Running Late Due To Engine Issue

The launch of NASA’s giant Moon rocket – Space Launch System (SLS) – carrying Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission is running late because of stormy weather and troubleshooting to resolve an apparent hydrogen leak with one of the engines at the base of the rocket.

The 322-foot-tall stack, consisting of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, was scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its historic maiden flight at 8:33 a.m. Monday.

The two-hour launch window is expected to delay, reports say.

“While liquid oxygen loading into the interim cryogenic propulsion stage continues and core stage tanks continue to be replenished with propellants, engineers are troubleshooting an issue conditioning one of the RS-25 engines (engine 3) on the bottom of the core stage,” NASA said in its latest update.

Teams are also assessing what appears to be a crack in the thermal protection system material on one of the flanges on the core stage.

The Artemis I test flight will have no crew on board, that will lay the foundation for a sustained long-term human presence on and around the Moon.

Artemis 2 and 3 missions aims to send astronauts back to the lunar surface for the first time after half a century.

In future Artemis missions, which are set to take place in this decade, NASA has promised to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration. Together with commercial and international partners, NASA will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon.

Based on lessons learned on and around the Moon, NASA will prepare to take the next giant leap of sending astronauts to Mars. The U.S. space agency estimates that it can achieve this landmark breakthrough in space science in the 2030s.

December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 program, the last time humans have set foot on the Moon.

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