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Artemis 1, because the return to the Moon has been postponed

2 years ago babelfish

Artemis 1, because the return to the Moon has been postponed

NASA engineers have canceled the launch of the giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket scheduled for today. Mission postponed with the first vehicle in 50 years capable of transporting humans to the moon. Looking forward to the new launch date

The launch of Artemis 1, the unmanned mission, symbol of the return to the Moon, has been canceled.

The first flight of the new US Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket, scheduled from Cape Canaveral at 8:33 am ET today, has been postponed. NASA canceled the launch due to the inability to repair the failure in the third RS-25 engine of the SLS launcher.

The mission was to begin a NASA campaign intended to bring the first female astronaut and astronaut of color to the moon, possibly by 2025.

The launch, in addition to having an enormous symbolic value for the United States, is a unique opportunity for Europe, which plays a very important role in the Artemis program. NASA did not provide a new launch date, but said its first available launch opportunity was set for Friday, September 2.

All the details pending the announcement of the new launch date.

LAUNCH CANCELED AND POSTPONED TO 2 SEPTEMBER

NASA engineers interrupted the countdown about 40 minutes before the scheduled launch time at 14.33 Italian. The teams are working to collect data and solve the problem, the US agency said.

THE ARTEMIS MISSION 1

The unmanned Artemis 1 mission will see a huge Boeing-built rocket transport the Orion space capsule to the moon and back for a 42-day cruise.
The United States has been building this rocket since 2010, and in 2017 the Trump White House made it the centerpiece of a return to the moon. The program has cost more than $ 93 billion so far, but has built the most powerful rocket in existence today.

The SLS, the height of a 30-story building and more powerful than the Saturn V rockets that carried the Apollo missions to the moon.

The Artemis 1 mission is a full-scale stress test to push the launcher and the Orion spacecraft to the limit, powered by the European Service Module (ESM).

THE NEW IMPLICATIONS OF EXPLORATION TOWARDS THE MOON

What's new in this generation's mission to the moon? “Scientists now know that there is water on the moon and they want to test it; Western politicians know China is aiming for the moon and they want to be there first and the private sector hopes to unlock new economic opportunities in space, ” Quartz points out.

Another big news of the Artemis program is that the return of man to the moon will not be an episode. In fact, the foundations will be laid to build a stable outpost, a base that in the future can make the Moon an outpost for future journeys to Mars.

ROADMAP

Artemis 1 is the first stage of the program which, after this mission, includes a second (Artemis 2) in the lunar orbit and a third (Artemis 3), in which astronauts will return after half a century to walk on the Moon.

THE ITALIAN INDUSTRY ON BOARD

Finally, our country is also involved in the US program through the contribution of its industry, starting with Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space , who have created some components of Orion's ESM (European Service Module), produced on behalf of European Space Agency (ESA). These are fundamental elements for the future development of the housing module that will allow crews to face the next trips to space, explains the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

The cubesat of the Italian Space Agency Argomoon, built by Turin-based Argotec, will also fly on Artemis-1. The only European satellite that will go into lunar orbit. A space observer who will film the technologies that will fly on SLS-1 from the outside.

THE COMMENT OF THE ESA DIRECTOR

“On launches it's always better to be safe than sorry. It's important that launch teams feel 100% comfortable with the launch, every time, without exception. I am confident that we will soon have a new launch date! " Josef Aschbacher, director of the European Space Agency, commented on Twitter.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/artemis-1-rimandato-ritorno-luna/ on Mon, 29 Aug 2022 09:42:48 +0000.