NASA Plans to Retry Its Moon Rocket Launch on Saturday
After scrubbing its launch of the Artemis I mission on Monday, NASA said it hoped to resolve an engine problem by a second launch window this weekend.
For now, NASA will press ahead with preparations for a second launch attempt on Saturday of its new moon rocket,
NASA officials said during a news conference on Tuesday,
Mission managers have come up with a plan that they hope will work around an engine problem with the rocket encountered during the first launch attempt on Monday.
The Space Launch System rocket is the modern equivalent of the Saturn V that took NASA astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program half a century ago,
and it is the centerpiece of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts back to the moon in the coming years.
This mission, Artemis I, will not have any people on board, but it is a critical test of the rocket and the Orion crew capsule, where astronauts will ride during later missions.
During the weekslong journey, Orion will go into orbit around the moon and then return to Earth.