NASA will try once more this Saturday to launch its Artemis 1 lunar mission, following a failed test last Monday due to technical problems.
Weather conditions are expected to be 60% favorable for liftoff, and a two-hour flight window opens at 2:17 p.m. (HLT), space agency officials said Friday.
The mission’s launch director gave the green light on Saturday morning to initiate a new take-off attempt. After years of delays and cost overruns, NASA will attempt to lift off its giant Space Launch System rocket and launch the Artemis I uncrewed mission from the Kennedy site in Florida.
This mission was to mark the very first flight of the American program to return to the Moon, dubbed Artemis.
Artemis 1, which will be done without astronauts on board, aims to test the rocket and the capsule to ensure that they can transport a crew safely to the Moon, from 2024.
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In 2024, the Artemis 2 mission will carry astronauts to orbit around the Moon, without landing there.
For its part, the crew of Artemis 3, a mission scheduled for 2025 at the earliest, should land on the Moon.
The last time humans landed on the moon was on Apollo 17 in 1972.
The Artemis program plans to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. This NASA-led program relies on international collaboration, including the European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and several commercial partners.
With MAP
