NASA Artemis I launch: Moon rocket set for launch on Saturday; details here

• Image Credit: Internet

• Sep 3, 2022 | Dhupali Das

The launch window will open on Saturday at 2:17 ET. According to NASA, the broadcast will start on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. (ET) on the...

Digital Desk: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to launch its massive moon rocket Artemis I for the second time on Saturday (September 3). The US space agency postponed the launch of Artemis 1 on August 29 due to fueling concerns with its new rocket, the Boeing-built Space Launch System.

The launch window will open on Saturday at 2:17 ET. According to NASA, the broadcast will start on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. (ET) on the US space agency's Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook handle. The rocket will take off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B.

On Friday, the Artemis I mission management team gave the "go" for a September 3 launch attempt of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.

"Over the last day, teams worked to fix a leak on the tail service mast umbilical by replacing a flex-hose and a loose pressure sensor line, as the likely the source of the leak. Teams also retorqued, or tightened, the bolts surrounding that enclosure to ensure a tight seal when introducing the super-cooled propellants through those lines," NASA said. Notably, there was no leak detected at room temperature, and crews will continue to monitor during tanking operations.

Meteorologists with the US Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 predict 60 percent favourable weather on Saturday, with conditions expected to improve throughout the window.

Notably, Artemis 1 will be a NASA Artemis Program test mission without a crew. The Orion crew capsule will be launched by the rocket into lunar orbit and will nearly immediately return to Earth. 13 areas close to the lunar south pole have been chosen by NASA for the crew capsule's landing.

The famous stop-motion television figure Shaun the Sheep will go aboard the unmanned Artemis I mission. The Artemis mission will lay the groundwork for future human deep space travel. For the first time since the Apollo mission in 1972, the project intends to send people back to the moon.