After two failed attempts this summer, NASA was due to launch its new megarocket to the Moon on Wednesday for the Artemis 1 mission, but again faced a leak during complex refueling operations, just hours after launch. .
The first flight of the SLS rocket, the most powerful in the world, is scheduled for Wednesday from Florida at 01:04 local time (07:04 in Paris), with a possible launch window of two hours.
The weather at the Kennedy Space Center was cooperative, with conditions 90% favorable. The rocket filling operations with its cryogenic fuel began in the afternoon of this Tuesday.
After several hours without problems, a hydrogen leak was detected at the base of the rocket. NASA has announced that it will send a team of technicians to the launch pad to tighten the bolts. A technically simple operation but “considered dangerous” due to the ultra-flammable fuel, the commentator on the live NASA video said.
100,000 people are expected
Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, this unmanned test flight, which will circumnavigate the Moon without landing there, should confirm that the vehicle is safe for a future crew. Artemis’s program is to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. The goal is to establish a lasting human presence there to prepare for a trip to Mars.
“A lot of sweat and tears went into that rocket,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said as the countdown ticked down Tuesday. “It will keep us going back and forth to the Moon and beyond for decades to come.”
Despite a late-night launch on Wednesday, some 100,000 people are expected to admire the spectacle, especially from the surrounding beaches.
Source: BFM TV
