NASA again cancels the launch of the “Artemis” lunar mission

Three hours before the start of a possible time window, it was cancelled. At that time the hydrogen tanks were eleven percent full.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst wrote on Twitter that such problems are not surprising in test launches of complex systems. “After the kickoff, before the kickoff,” German added. “This is the right decision. Safety comes first,” Josef Aschbacher, director of the European Space Agency ESA, wrote on Twitter.

The first attempt to launch “Artemis I” was also abandoned last Monday for several reasons. A tank leak also occurred, and an engine could not be cooled to the required temperature. Besides Saturday, NASA also named Monday, September 5 as other possible launch dates. After the failure to start on Saturday, this new date was initially unconfirmed. NASA announced a press conference on Saturday afternoon (local time) about the reasons for the demolition and how to proceed.

The unmanned test flight of the “Artemis I” mission, which will last about 40 days, is intended to mark the return of manned flights to the Moon. During the mission, NASA intends to launch an “Orion” space capsule with the help of a heavy rocket “Space Launch System” from the Cape Canaveral Cosmodrome, then orbit the Moon and then land back in the Pacific.

The purpose of the “Artemis I” test mission is to be able to send humans back to Earth’s satellite in a few years with the “Artemis II” mission. Very soon, in 2025 people should land on the moon again, for the first time by a woman and a non-white person. Problems had already arisen in earlier trials and the original schedule was delayed.