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The second attempt to launch the Artemis I mission, the first step in the program to restore manned flights to the Moon, is scheduled for Next Saturday (September 3) between 7:17 PM and 9:17 PM From mainland Portugal, NASA announced two days after the failure of the first attempt.
NASA confirmed that engine cooling was not tested in trials conducted in June. “This is something they wanted to test during the fourth rehearsal, but they couldn’t. This was the first chance for the team to see this in action live. Obtaining this temperature is a particularly difficult matter.said a NASA spokesperson, Derol Neal.
The first window of opportunity was on Monday, but the mission had to be aborted because Overheating of one of the four rocket engines – New Space Launch System (SLS) – and leakage of liquid hydrogen, that is, aircraft fuel.
There was a new opportunity already on Friday afternoon, but only 90 minutes. NASA chose to choose the third possible launch date, September 3, because although not all of the ideal conditions existed for the mission to begin, With a larger time margin: two hours.
John Honeycutt, director of the US Space Agency’s rocket program, admitted that Issues that occurred on August 29th may be repeated on SaturdayBut NASA thinks it’s better to try again “than scratch our heads wondering if everything is OK.”
Artemis 1, the first step towards restoring the moon and colonizing space
“Based on what I heard from the technical team today, What we have to do is keep analyzing the data and to improve the logic of our trip plan,” he said, citing Watchman. One of the culprits could simply be a sensor that transmits false information.
The search for a launch date depends on several factors: the position of the moon in orbit around the Earth, The position of the sun along the path of the Orion spacecraft and its return time; The position of the Earth in its rotation. First, because the rocket’s upper stage must maneuver at a specific point to catapult the spacecraft into a trajectory that allows it to perform a distant orbit on the Moon.
Then because the ship Orion can go no more than 90 minutes without sunlight, Because it relies on them to work and maintain the ideal temperature for the capsule. Atmospheric re-entry must also take place at the end of the mission at a specified time, to ensure the spacecraft land in the Pacific Ocean, exactly at the agreed location and during the day, to facilitate Orion’s recovery.
