Artemis I, the first in a series of “increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come,” planned by NASA was postponed for a second time today.
Engine issues delayed the initial expected launch of Artemis I Monday. During tanking of the mission Saturday, a leak developed while attempting to transfer fuel to the rocket.
“Attempts to fix it so far have been unsuccessful,” NASA said Saturday morning before announcing that the mission will be postponed.
“Stand by for updates.”
A livestream with information about the launch attempt is available HERE:
NASA officials said the mission team will reconvene Sunday.
According to NASA, Artemis I “will be the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems,” which include the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. It is an uncrewed flight.
“During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown,” said NASA. “It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.”
Orion is expected to fly 62 miles above the surface of the Moon and then use the Moon’s gravitational force to propel into a new deep retrograde. The spacecraft should stay in that orbit for approximately six days to collect data and allow mission controllers to assess its performance.
Before its expected return on Oct. 11, Orion will first take another close flyby around 60 miles near the Moon’s surface and then accelerate back to Earth using a precisely timed engine firing of a European-provided service module in conjunction with the Moon’s gravity.
“After about four to six weeks and a total distance traveled exceeding 1.3 million miles, the mission will end with a test of Orion’s capability to return safely to the Earth,” said NASA. It is expected to land within sight of a recovery ship off the coast of Baja, Calif. Divers from the U.S. Navy and operations teams from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems are then expected to approach in small boats and briefly inspect the spacecraft for hazards.
“Engineers will tow the capsule into the well-deck of the recovery ship to bring the spacecraft home,” according to NASA.
This mission is intended to lead to more deep space exploration, lunar surface missions and more. A second flight that would have humans aboard is also planned.
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