Hurricane Ian blows NASA Artemis Moon launch into October or November
NASA's Moon-ward Space Launch System rocket will not be blasting off from Earth until late October at the earliest, after the vehicle was rolled back to its hangar to shelter from an incoming hurricane.
Tropical storm Ian is projected to hit Florida, where the SLS lives, over the next few days. Officialsthe rocket back to its Vehicle Assembly Building on Monday at 2321 ET as a precautionary measure. Unfortunately, the move means NASA cannot launch the rocket from the Kennedy Space Center for the next few weeks.
It's hoped the SLS rocket will be used in NASA's Artemis mission to, some time this decade, put the first American woman and another man on the Moon. For now, prior to that return to our natural satellite, the US space agency wants to test the SLS: it's expected to carry an empty Orion crew capsule up into the Moon's orbit. The podule will then return to Earth. In future, there'll be astronauts in the pod.
The hurricane marks another set back to conduct this first-ever flight demonstration of the multi-billion-dollar SLS heavy launch vehicle – NASA's most powerful rocket to date – that was at one pointJim Free, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said there was a slim chance the SLS may launch in late October, and November may be more likely.
When weather conditions improve, experts will assess any damage to infrastructure at the center before personnel are safely allowed back on site. Engineers then have to perform checks on the heavy launch vehicle; hardware components may need to be replaced, such as the flight's batteries before it can be rolled back out on the launchpad.
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