NASA again gears up for Artemis Moon mission launch attempt

Washington, November 7

After several failed attempts, the US space agency is hopeful that on November 14, it will be able to finally launch the Artemis I Moon mission into space.

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.

The agency now has a 69-minute launch window that opens at 12.07 a.m. EST (10.37 p.m. India time) on November 14.

Artemis I is the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida that will pave the way for a crewed test flight and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.

On November 4, “the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived at launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a nearly nine-hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building”, said NASA.

In September, the US space agency called off the Artemis I launch, owing to Tropical Storm Ian threat.

On September 3, NASA attempted to launch Artemis I but called it off after detecting a liquid hydrogen leak.

The US space agency on August 30 scrubbed the mission launch for the first time owing to technical glitch with one of the SLS rocket’s engines.

IANS