For the second time in five days, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has suspended its countdown, delaying the planned attempt to launch a giant next-generation rocket on the first mission of its Artemis program. Flight from the Moon to Mars
The giant rocket was scheduled to launch to the moon on Saturday after fixing technical problems that delayed the process last Monday.
On Monday, the agency noticed a crack in the large orange fuel tank containing the four main engines as ice appeared around the suspected area, NASA officials said.
Artemis 1’s mission is to send the unmanned Orion capsule into orbit around the Moon to ensure that the spacecraft is safe for future astronauts.
Earlier, Mike Sarafin, a NASA official for the Artemis mission, said: “There is no guarantee that we will succeed in the launch on Saturday, but we will try.”
After 42 days in space, the main objective is to test the capsule’s heat shield when it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, at a speed of nearly 40,000 km/h and a temperature half that of the Sun’s surface.
The capsule was supposed to reach 64,000 kilometers beyond the moon, farther than any other spacecraft that has ever been able to carry humans.
After the first mission, Artemis 2 will carry astronauts to the moon in 2024 without landing on the lunar surface.
And the first landing of a manned mission for the Artemis 3 crew will happen as early as 2025, with NASA looking to launch one mission every year after that.
The launch marks a milestone in Washington’s efforts to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo program ended more than 50 years ago.
Source: Lebanon Debate
