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Rabat – NASA, the American space exploration and aerospace research agency, is taking another attempt to launch its Artemis I moon rocket today, after its failed attempt earlier this week.
NASA is streaming live coverage of the rocket tanking process on its official YouTube channel. “The Artemis I Mission Management Team has given the “go” to proceed toward tanking operations,” said NASA.
The mission was initially set to launch on Monday morning, but an issue with the rocket’s four main engines prompted the space giant to postpone the launch.
The Artemis I moon mission will be the first stage of NASA’s new moon exploration program, which aims to put humans on the moon again, but for a longer period of time.
If everything goes according to plan, the rocket will take off during a two-hour launch window that will start on Saturday at 2:17 pm local time (7:17 pm GMT+1).
“We’re going to show up, and we’re going to try, and we’re going to give it our best,” said Mike Sarafin, NASA’s Artemis mission manager, during a press briefing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US.
According to NASA, the weather forecast for today’s launch window appears to be favorable, with a 60% chance that conditions will allow for a successful blastoff.
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Once the rocket lifts off, it will send a crew capsule called Orinion on a journey around the moon. The journey will last a little over a month and will return to earth on October 11.
If the five-week demonstration succeeds, the next stage of this rocket will carry astronauts for a journey around the moon in 2024 and a moon landing in 2025.
NASA has so far faced several technical issues as part of today’s launching attempt, including recurring liquid hydrogen leaks. “After the third troubleshooting attempt, the liquid hydrogen leak has occurred again. Teams are discussing next steps,” NASA conceded in its latest update.
