It will be “difficult” to attempt a new launch for NASA’s new mega-rocket to the Moon in October, a US space agency official said Tuesday, who now believes a November launch is more likely.
• Also read: NASA’s mega rocket launch canceled again
• Also read: NASA is again delaying the launch of its rocket to the moon
The SLS rocket, the most powerful ever constructed by NASA, had to be returned to its assembly building overnight Monday to shelter from Hurricane Ian’s arrival in Florida.
The next possible ignition periods – determined according to the positions of the earth and moon – extend from October 17th to October 31st, then from November 12th to November 27th.
“We know the earliest we can go is late October, but we will most likely do it in mid-November,” NASA chief Bill Nelson told CNN.
At a press conference Monday, NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Free was also asked about the rocket’s chances of lifting off in October.
“I don’t mean it’s more off the table,” he replied. “But it will be difficult.”
After the hurricane’s passage, NASA must take the time to change the batteries of the rocket’s self-destruct system, a complex operation performed in the assembly building.
It will then take days to lift the 98-meter rocket and transport it to its launch pad before configuring it to prepare it for launch.
This setback thus significantly postpones the launch of the much-anticipated Artemis 1 mission.
Two launch attempts had already been aborted at the last moment, in late August and then early September, due to technical problems, including a leak when filling the rocket’s tanks with fuel.
Fifty years after the Apollo program’s final mission, Artémis 1 must be used to verify that the Orion capsule at the tip of the rocket is safe to transport a crew to the moon in the future.