It will be “difficult” to make a new takeoff attempt in October for NASA’s new mega-rocket to the Moon, said an official from the American space agency on Tuesday, who now considers a launch in November more likely.
• Read also: NASA’s mega-rocket launch canceled once again
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The SLS rocket, the most powerful ever designed by NASA, had to be returned overnight from Monday to Tuesday in its assembly building, in order to be sheltered before the arrival of Hurricane Ian on Florida.
The next possible firing periods – determined according to the positions of the Earth and the Moon – extend from October 17 to 31, then from November 12 to 27.
“We know the earliest to go is late October, but we’ll most likely do it in the middle of November,” NASA boss Bill Nelson told CNN.
At a Monday press conference, NASA associate administrator Jim Free was also asked about the rocket’s chances of attempting to lift off in October.
“I don’t mean it’s off the table anymore,” he replied. “But it’s going to be difficult.”
After the passage of the hurricane, NASA will have to take the time to change the batteries of the rocket’s self-destruction system, a complex operation which will be carried out in the assembly building.
Then raising the 98-meter-tall rocket and transporting it to its launch pad, before configuring it to prepare it for takeoff, will also take days.
This setback thus significantly postpones the take-off of the highly anticipated Artemis 1 mission.
Two launch attempts had already been canceled at the last moment, at the end of August and then at the beginning of September, due to technical problems, including a leak when filling the rocket’s tanks with fuel.
Fifty years after the last mission of the Apollo program, Artémis 1 must be used to verify that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport a crew to the Moon in the future.