NASA looks to launch Artemis lunar test flight again on Nov 14
NASA has targeted November 14 for a third attempt to launch its big, next-generation rocketship, the US space agency said on Wednesday, after weeks of technical setbacks and foul weather delayed the uncrewed inaugural Artemis mission to the moon.
Plans call for rolling the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule back out to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as early as November 4 to renew final flight preparations.
Safety regulations and deteriorating weather conditions spawned by Hurricane Ian had forced the space agency to return the towering rocketship to its hangar in September following two aborted launch attempts, on August 29 and September 3.
Standard maintenance still to be done at the pad includes repairing minor damage to insulation materials, and recharging or replacing batteries on the rocket, and on its satellite payloads and flight-termination system, NASA said in a statement.
NASA officials have previously said that a hydrogen fuel leak that forced them to scrub the last countdown three hours before liftoff has since been resolved.
The newly targeted 69-minute launch window for the Artemis I mission on November 14 opens at 12:07 am EST (04:07 GMT), with backup launch opportunities of two hours each set for November 16 and November 19, NASA said.
Plans call for rolling the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule back out to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as early as November 4 to renew final flight preparations.
Safety regulations and deteriorating weather conditions spawned by Hurricane Ian had forced the space agency to return the towering rocketship to its hangar in September following two aborted launch attempts, on August 29 and September 3.
Standard maintenance still to be done at the pad includes repairing minor damage to insulation materials, and recharging or replacing batteries on the rocket, and on its satellite payloads and flight-termination system, NASA said in a statement.
NASA officials have previously said that a hydrogen fuel leak that forced them to scrub the last countdown three hours before liftoff has since been resolved.
The newly targeted 69-minute launch window for the Artemis I mission on November 14 opens at 12:07 am EST (04:07 GMT), with backup launch opportunities of two hours each set for November 16 and November 19, NASA said.
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