NASA announced Saturday that a relaunch of the Artemis I mission won’t happen over the weekend, but nearly a month away.
This is the second rescheduling of the rocket set for the moon, which could happen as soon as Sept 25. Earlier Saturday, there was word that the rocket could attempt a relaunch as soon as Monday, but ultimately decided against it to give experts time to examine the rocket, which had a liquid hydrogen leak. Teams noticed it while loading the propellant into the rocket’s core stage.
“The nature of humans is that we want to see it, and participate in it. And yet despite all that, that’s why these guys are such consummate professionals,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference Saturday. “They do it by the book and when it’s ready.”
NASA CALLS OFF ARTEMIS I MISSION AGAIN DUE TO MECHANICAL LEAK PROBLEM
When a reporter attempted to ask Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA’S Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, what the cost of two leaks and subsequent rescheduled launches were, Free was unable to provide a number.
“The cost of two scrubs is a lot less than a failure,” Nelson responded on Free’s behalf.
Artemis I was meant to be “the first flight test of the integrated Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis I will fly 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and back, demonstrating our capability to send humans to lunar orbit on the second flight test,” according to NASA’s website.
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NASA will consider the SpaceX launch, the fifth crewed mission to the International Space Station and scheduled for Oct 5, into consideration when scheduling Artemis I’s third attempt to launch.
