NASA is hoping to launch Artemis 1 to the moon on Saturday after Monday’s attempt in Florida had to be scrubbed at the last minute due to a hydrogen bleed line issue.
That has since been repaired, and tests held on Thursday looked good, according to Jeremy Parsons, the deputy manager of exploration ground systems.
“Right now, we’re on track for a 2:17 p.m. launch. We have a two-hour window, so right now, the team has really done a fantastic job getting us out of launch attempt No. 1, repairing all the issues, and getting us into a safe configuration to proceed into tomorrow’s launch attempt.”
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However, the weather could wind up playing spoiler.
“We are expecting our weather to start off a little bit dicey,” said Melody Lovin, launch weather officer of the U.S. Space Force. “I do expect to make some no-go calls at some point tomorrow. However, as that east coast sea breeze drifts farther inland, we do expect clearing on the backside of that.”
Currently, she says there is a 60%-80% chance of launch, with favorability increasing toward the end of the launch window.
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If the launch doesn’t happen on Saturday, the next attempt at the unmanned voyage would be on Monday at 5:12 p.m. with a 90-minute launch window.
