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NASA’s next-generation House Launch System (SLS) rocket continues to be on the bottom.
It’s secured contained in the Automobile Meeting Constructing (VAB) on the Kennedy House Middle in Florida to maintain it protected from Hurricane Ian, which at this second is battering the state with robust winds and torrential rain.
The 98-meter-tall SLS rocket, whose first flight will mark the beginning of a brand new period of area exploration, was imagined to launch on the finish of August, however a technical hitch with one of many core stage’s engines compelled an abort about 70 minutes earlier than lift-off.
With the engine problem mounted, NASA tried once more in early September, however a liquid hydrogen leak once more prompted engineers to halt that launch effort, too.
NASA selected to type out the problems with the rocket nonetheless on the launchpad, preferring to not haul it 4 miles to the VAB until it was actually mandatory.
However then alongside got here Hurricane Ian, making that elimination actually mandatory. So on Monday evening out got here NASA’s crawler car to move the SLS rocket again to the VAB.
“As a part of NASA’s hurricane preparedness protocol, a ‘trip out’ crew will stay in a protected location at Kennedy all through the storm to observe center-wide circumstances,” NASA mentioned in a submit on its web site on Wednesday. “After the storm passes, they’ll conduct an evaluation of amenities, property, and tools. As soon as it’s protected for added staff to return to Kennedy, engineers will prolong platforms to ascertain entry to the rocket and spacecraft.”
It added: “Managers will overview choices on the extent of labor that might be performed within the VAB earlier than returning to the launch pad or figuring out the following alternative for launch. Technicians will swap out batteries on the rocket’s flight termination system and retest the system previous to the following launch try.”
NASA had earlier introduced Sunday, October 2, as a attainable launch date, however the disruption attributable to Hurricane Ian implies that that window of alternative is sort of sure to move by with none exercise.
When it lastly will get underway, the Artemis I mission will propel an uncrewed Orion spacecraft towards the moon, the place it’s going to carry out a fly-by earlier than returning to Earth six weeks after launch.
A profitable mission will pave the best way for a crewed Artemis II flight taking the identical route, whereas Artemis III, which might happen as early as 2025, will endeavor to place the primary lady and first particular person of colour on the lunar floor.
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