UPDATE: NASA cancels the Artemis I space mission launch and rolls the rocket back into its hanger

UPDATE: NASA cancels the Artemis I space mission and rolls the rocket back into its hanger

NASA cancels the Artemis I space mission and rolls the rocket back into its hanger

NASA has cancelled the launch of the Artemis I space mission and will roll the rocket back into its hangar.

UPDATE: Monday, September 26 at 7:01pm

NASA mission control has reported today, Monday, September 26, to cancel the launch of its Artemis Moon rocket. They announced that it will be rolled away from the launch pad and placed back in the Kennedy Space Centre Vehicle Assembly Building. The next attempt will probably not take place until November.

Florida is currently under a State of Emergency as Hurricane Ian approaches from the Caribbean. The launch site’s west-coast location in Titusville could face the brunt of Ian’s power as it hits landfall later this week.

Saturday, September 3 at 6:22pm

The United States space agency, NASA, announced this afternoon, Saturday, September 3, the suspension of the launch of the unmanned Artemis I space mission to the Moon. This is due to a fuel leak they confirmed. It is the second time that the launch has been cancelled after the spaceflight encountered problems in an engine last Monday, August 29.

“The Artemis I mission to the Moon has been postponed. The teams have tried to solve a problem of a leak in the transfer of fuel to the rocket, but they have not succeeded”, NASA reported on its official Twitter account.

This latest mission is comprised of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NASA reported that the failure that prevented the launch of Artemis I last Monday was related to one of the four engines of the SLS core stage. Specifically, the number 3 engine was not able to reach the proper temperature required for takeoff.

Once the fault was fixed, the rocket was prepared for launch again today from platform 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Artemis I mission is intended to be the first step, even without a crew, for successive missions with the ultimate goal of returning astronauts to the surface of the Moon. NASA intends to make the long-term human presence in space possible for decades to come.

At a briefing on Tuesday, August 30, NASA said that Artemis I’s primary goals are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and to ensure safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first crewed flight on Artemis II.

After takeoff, the duration of the mission is set at between four and six weeks, with a journey of around 2.1 million kilometres. This will include several orbits of the Earth and the Moon in its mission.

___________________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

Comments