NASA eyes Nov 14 as launch date for Artemis I Moon mission

The US space agency has now set the next launch attempt of the Artemis I Moon mission for November 14, after facing two failed attempts due to liquid hydrogen gas leak in one of the engines.

Washington: The US space agency has now set the next launch attempt of the Artemis I Moon mission for November 14, after facing two failed attempts due to liquid hydrogen gas leak in one of the engines. The liftoff of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft is planned during a 69-minute launch window.

Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test to launch SLS and send Orion around the Moon and back to Earth to thoroughly test its system before flights with astronauts. "Teams will perform standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries on the rocket, several secondary payloads, and the flight termination system," NASA said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The space agency plans to roll the rocket back to the launch pad as early as November 4. NASA had pushed back the Artemis I Moon mission launch to November in the wake of hurricane Ian. It said that over the coming days, managers will assess the scope of work to perform while in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Artemis I will provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. (IANS)