Artemis 1. NASA is aiming for November 14 to fly to the Moon.

NASA announced on Wednesday the new date of November 14 to try to launch its mega-rocket to the Moon, as part of the Artemis 1 mission.

NASA’s new SLS rocket with the Orion capsule on top, before takeoff of the Artemis 1 mission at Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 23, 2022

The previous launches planned for the end of August and then the beginning of September were aborted at the last moment due to technical problems.

Then, at the end of September, the SLS rocket, the most powerful ever built by the American space agency, was stored in its hangar at the Kennedy Space Center to protect it from Hurricane Ian, which devastated certain regions of Florida. .

The new firing window, lasting 69 minutes, will open on the night of November 13 to 14 at 04:07 GMT (05:07 Swiss), NASA said. Two fallback dates, November 16 and 19, have also been set.

First woman on the moon

Artemis is NASA’s new flagship program, which should allow humans to return to the Moon, and take there the first woman and the first person of color.

Fifty years following the last mission of the Apollo program, the Artemis 1 mission will not take an astronaut on board. It must be used to verify that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport a crew in the future.

ATS