Kennedy Space Center, United States, Aug 29 (AFP\/APP):NASA’s most powerful rocket yet is set to blast off Monday on a mission to take humans back to the Moon, but fueling the spacecraft gave the US space agency trouble hours before the launch.<\/p>\n
Fifty years after astronauts last set foot on the moon during the Apollo 17 mission, the Artemis space program is to get underway with the launch of the uncrewed 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at 8:33 am (1233 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of people — including US Vice President Kamala Harris — are expected to gather along the beach to watch the launch, which has been decades in the making.<\/p>\n
The goal of the flight, dubbed Artemis 1, is to test the SLS and the Orion crew capsule that sits atop the rocket.<\/p>\n
Overnight operations to fill the rocket with more than three million liters of ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen were briefly delayed by a high risk of lightning, though it was a “go” after an hour.<\/p>\n
Around 03:00 am, another hiccup emerged: a potential leak was detected during the filling of the main stage with hydrogen, causing a pause.
\nAfter tests, the flow resumed.<\/p>\n
“The leak is at an acceptable level and we have returned to fast fill operations,” NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems tweeted, adding that they would continue monitoring.<\/p>\n
While liftoff is scheduled for 8:33 am, there is a two-hour window during which NASA has said there is an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather.<\/p>\n
After the slight delays during fueling operations, NASA said it will determine a new launch time within that window.<\/p>\n
The massive orange-and-white rocket, which has been sitting on the space center’s Launch Complex 39B for more than a week, will not be able to take off in case of rains and storms.<\/p>\n
The rocket’s Orion capsule is set to orbit the Moon to see if the vessel is safe for people in the near future. At some point, Artemis aims to put a woman and a person of color on the Moon for the first time.<\/p>\n
“This mission goes with a lot of hopes and dreams of a lot of people. And we now are the Artemis generation,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday.<\/p>\n
In another first, a woman — Charlie Blackwell-Thompson — will give the final green light for liftoff.<\/p>\n
Women now account for 30 percent of the control room staff, compared to one for the Apollo 11 mission — the first time astronauts landed on the moon in 1969.<\/p>\n
During the 42-day trip, the Orion capsule will orbit the Moon, coming within 60 miles (100 kilometers) at its closest approach, and then fire its engines to shoot out 40,000 miles — a record for a spacecraft rated to carry humans.<\/p>\n
– Extreme temperatures –<\/p>\n
Besides the weather, any technical snafu could delay liftoff at the last minute, NASA officials have said, stressing that this is a test flight.<\/p>\n
If the rocket is unable to take off Monday, September 2 and 5 have been penciled in as alternative flight dates.<\/p>\n
One of the primary objectives of the mission is to test the capsule’s heat shield, which at 16 feet in diameter is the largest ever built.<\/p>\n
On its return to the Earth’s atmosphere, the heat shield will have to withstand a speed of 25,000 miles per hour and a temperature of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) — or half as hot as the Sun.<\/p>\n
Dummies fitted with sensors will take the place of real crew members, recording acceleration, vibration and radiation levels.<\/p>\n
The craft will deploy small satellites to study the lunar surface.
\nA complete failure would be devastating for a program costing $4.1 billion per launch and that is already years behind schedule.<\/p>\n
– Life on the Moon –<\/p>\n
Monday’s launch is “not a near-term sprint, but a long-term marathon to bring the solar system and beyond into our sphere,” said Bhavya Lal, NASA associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy.<\/p>\n
The next mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts into orbit around the Moon without landing on its surface. The crew of Artemis 3 is to land on the Moon in 2025 at the earliest.<\/p>\n
And since humans have already visited the Moon, Artemis has its sights set on another lofty goal — a crewed mission to Mars.<\/p>\n
The Artemis program is to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon with an orbiting space station known as Gateway and a base on the surface.<\/p>\n
Gateway would serve as a staging and refueling station for a voyage to Mars that would take a minimum of several months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kennedy Space Center, United States, Aug 29 (AFP\/APP):NASA’s most powerful rocket yet is set to blast off Monday on a mission to take humans back to the Moon, but fueling the spacecraft gave the US space agency trouble hours before the launch. Fifty years after […]<\/p>\n
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