NASA had been aiming to strive for a 3rd time to launch its new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), on the Artemis I mission this week. However, resulting from tropical storm Ian which may threaten the Florida coast, the company has introduced it’s canceling the launch and is contemplating rolling the rocket off the launch pad.

A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as a result of storm, with Governor Ron DeSantis warning on Saturday that the storm may strengthen right into a hurricane. It is believed that the storm may strengthen all through right this moment, Sunday, September 25, and it’s at present headed towards Cuba and the Florida coast.

NASA introduced on Saturday that it will not be going forward with the launch which had been deliberate for Tuesday, September 27, and which was to have taken place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “During a meeting Saturday morning, teams decided to stand down on preparing for the Tuesday launch date to allow them to configure systems for rolling back the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building,” NASA wrote in an replace. “Engineers deferred a final decision about the roll to Sunday, September  25, to allow for additional data gathering and analysis.”

Two earlier makes an attempt at launching the SLS together with the Orion spacecraft have been hampered by technical points, together with an engine concern and a leak of liquid hydrogen gas. To attempt to stave off any additional issues within the third launch try, NASA carried out a tanking check on the rocket final week.

In the tanking check on Wednesday, September 21, the rocket was crammed with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen gas, to verify that there have been no occurrences of leak points. NASA deemed the check successful, asserting that all targets had been met after there was a leak early within the check however the group managed to repair it by decreasing the strain and troubleshooting the issue. The launch had been trying good to go earlier than information of the tropical storm got here in.

Now, NASA should resolve whether or not to roll the rocket off the launch pad and again into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) the place it’s housed — which isn’t a easy operation and takes time. However, it appears doubtless that this will likely be accomplished to guard the rocket from a possible storm. NASA says that if it does resolve to roll the rocket again to the VAB, that will occur late tonight or early Monday morning. The company has not introduced any dates for when a future launch try may happen.

Editors’ Recommendations