NASA is very likely to attempt the launch of Artemis 1 for the third time on September 27. The organization has also considered October 2 as a backup date.
According to information provided by NASA, the agency will have a 70-minute ‘launch window’ for the September 27 Artemis 1 launch. If the weather is favorable and there are no new mechanical problems, Artemis 1 will begin its journey to the moon at 11:37 a.m. Florida time.
As cited to the news of technology site Verge, NASA initially thought of launching the Artemis 1 mission’s ‘Space Launch System (SLS)’ rocket on September 23, but chose September 27 in consideration of the logistics of the mission’s various accessories. As part of the mission, NASA plans to send the Orion spacecraft to the moon via the SLS rocket. The spacecraft will circle the moon and return to earth. The main objective of the entire mission is to test how reliable and durable the new SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are. NASA engineers will test the entire system from September 21 to avoid possible complications with fuel supply.
Not only as part of the plan to return to the moon after five decades, the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft are the betting horses for NASA’s future ambitions in space. The ultimate goal of the Artemis project is to pave the way for human astronauts to the Red Planet Mars.
The Orion spacecraft was scheduled to go into space on August 29 aboard the SLS rocket to fulfill the mission. But the initiative stumbled at the beginning. NASA canceled the launch that day after the liquid fuel tank cracked and the rocket engine could not cool down to the desired level.
Then on September 3, they tried again. On that day, liquid hydrogen was leaking due to a fault in the junction of the supply line. NASA engineers tried to solve it for several hours and failed; NASA had no option but to cancel the Artemis 1 launch again.