Initially there was optimism that the damage would be repaired immediately, but it seems that technical work and repairs on the rocket will take much longer
For weeks, perhaps months, the program’s third attempt to launch the SLS rocket to the Moon has been delayed NASA’s Artemis 1, 50 years after the end of the historic “Apollo” program and a decade after the end of the Space Shuttle program – the “space shuttles” for sending manned vessels into space.
The first launch of the new Space Launch System rocket on August 29 was aborted due to… technical problems. A new attempt on Saturday failed while a third attempt planned for the middle of this week appears unlikely to take place.
The reason for the cancellation of the initial launch was a leak in the liquid hydrogen supply system as well as a leak in an engine.
Initially there was optimism for the immediate repair of the damage, but it seems that the technical work and repairs on the rocket will take much longer and – according to officials of the American Space Agency – the new launch attempt will not take place before the end of September, maybe even early November.
#Artemis Update: The team continues to troubleshoot, and plans to return with a variety of options early next week. We are standing down on any launch attempts through the current launch period, which ends Tuesday.
See https://t.co/dMVnvEQcfC for more information. pic.twitter.com/cCefwG9FO0
— NASA (@NASA) September 3, 2022
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stressed that safety is the agency’s top priority, “especially on a test flight like this where everybody wants to verify the rocket systems before we put four people in.”
“Just remember: We’re not going to launch the missile until it’s ready,” he said.
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