NASA’s return to the moon will have to wait a little longer after the first uncrewed launch of its Space Launch System rocket was once scrubbed Monday morning due to an engine issue.
NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket used to be scheduled to launch for the first time at 5:33 a.m.
Pacific time from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
But an problem with one of the 4 engines in the rocket’s core stage pushed the launch returned at least a few days.
The subsequent viable launch time is Friday, although engineers will have to work thru the engine trouble first,
a NASA spokesman stated on the agency’s launch livestream.
The towering rocket will propel the Orion crew pill — besides a crew aboard — 280,000 miles from Earth on a far-off orbit round the moon.
The pill is set to splash down off the coast of San Diego.
The launch is set to be the first of NASA’s Artemis lunar application — named after the Greek goddess of the moon and twin sister of solar god Apollo.
The 42-day mission is supposed to push the pill to its limits to make certain it’s geared up to lift a crew on future missions.
The subsequent Artemis mission, set for no beforehand than 2024, is set to elevate a crew round the moon.
By 2025 or later, Artemis III is predicted to land the first female and first man or woman of colour on the moon.