Launch of NASA’s giant SLS rocket to the moon postponed again

NASA had previously worked on the issue that led to the short-term postponement of the launch on Monday. Rocket program chief John Honeycutt said at the news conference that it initially appeared that one of the rocket’s four main engines was not cooling sufficiently. In fact, it was an incorrect display of a sensor. In the future, the wrong ad will simply be ignored.

In addition, a leak in a tank had to be previously repaired. The cause of the leak has been found and repaired, Launch Maneuver Supervisor Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said. However, the leader of the Artemis mission, Mike Sarafin, frustrated expectations. “There’s no guarantee we’ll get off the ground on Saturday, but we’ll try,” he said.

With Artemis 1, the most powerful launch vehicle to date, and the Orion capsule located on top will be tested in real conditions. The Artemis 2 follow-up mission is to carry astronauts into lunar orbit, with Artemis 3 a lunar landing should be successful no later than 2025. The last time NASA astronauts landed on the moon was 50 years ago. In the long term, the Artemis missions consist of preparing a manned mission to Mars, much more distant.

Germany is also significantly involved in the Artemis mission. Orion’s propulsion and service module was primarily built here. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, it was financed 50 percent by Germany through the European Space Agency ESA. The Institute for Aerospace Medicine of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne manufactured two human-like dummies for the mission, which will be used to test flight conditions.

Officials from the Brevard district, where the spaceport is located, were expecting hundreds of thousands of spectators at the site Saturday for the new launch attempt. The audience could range from 200,000 to 400,000, county communications director Don Walker said. Spectators can marvel at the rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center from the region’s beaches.