Published on : 08/09/2022 – 17:56Modified : 08/09/2022 – 17:54
Washington (AFP) – NASA could try to launch its new mega-rocket to the Moon on September 23 or 27, after two failed attempts due to technical problems, Jim Free, a senior official with the US space agency, announced Thursday during a meeting. ‘a press conference.
This highly anticipated test flight of the Artemis 1 mission, without a crew on board, must test the SLS rocket (for Space Launch System) in real conditions and the Orion capsule at its summit, where the astronauts will take place in the future.
The possible shooting window on September 23 will begin at 6:47 a.m. local time, while that of the 27th will open at 11:37 a.m. local time, Free said.
The planned takeoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida was canceled at the last moment on Saturday for the second time in a week, a setback that postpones the actual launch of the American program back to the Moon, Artemis.
A fuel leak problem had started in the early morning, during the filling operations of the rocket tanks.
The orange and white SLS rocket, which has never flown before, has been in development for more than a decade to become the most powerful in the world.
Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, Artemis 1 should make it possible to verify that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport astronauts to the Moon in the future.
For this first mission, Orion will venture up to 64,000 kilometers behind the Moon, farther than any other habitable spacecraft so far.
The main objective is to test its heat shield, the largest ever built. On its return to the Earth’s atmosphere, it will have to withstand a speed of 40,000 km/h and a temperature half as hot as that of the surface of the Sun.
© 2022 AFP