After Delay, Artemis I Mission Will Finally Take Off For The Moon This Saturday

After suffering a setback last week, NASA says it's ready to launch the Artemis I mission this Saturday (September 3, 2022). A NASA team met on Thursday to finalise the plan.

This launch marks the first of many for NASA's Moon mission that eventually aims to put humans on Earth's only natural satellite again. It appears that Artemis I will be launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Just like the last time, this launch will also have a two-hour window that will open at 11.47 pm IST (6.17 pm GMT).

NASA

"There's no guarantee that we're going to get off on Saturday, but we're gonna try," Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said at a news conference on September 1.

NASA's moon ambitions

Artemis I will use a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to send the Orion capsule on a 37-day long mission to the Moon and back. This mission will be uncrewed and will mark NASA's first efforts to put humans back on the Moon before the end of this decade.

NASA

Also read: Weird Stuff That Is Going To The Moon Aboard NASA's Artemis I Mission

The original liftoff for Artemis I was planned for August 29. But right before the launch, the team noticed an issue that couldn't be resolved instantly. One of the four RS-25 engines on which the SLS core depends wasn't cooling down to the right prelaunch temperature.

It appears that there was a faulty temperature sensor in the RS-25 engine, implying that the issue wasn't as big as they had anticipated. This means that the mission might actually be able to take off this Saturday.

NASA

Also read: AI Lights Up The Dark Side of The Moon Before NASA¡¯s Artemis Mission

Are you excited to see where Artemis I takes us? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Wall, M. (2022, September 2). Artemis 1 moon mission is ¡°go¡± for Saturday launch, NASA says. Space.Com.