UPDATE Sept. 3rd: Today’s second launch attempt has been scrubbed, again due to a hydrogen fuelling leak. Stay tuned for news of when the next launch attempt will be made.
Teams are moving forward to the Moon with a second launch attempt of the Artemis I mission on Saturday, 3 September.
The two-hour launch window starts at 14:17 EDT (19:17 BST / 20:17 CEST).
The original countdown stopped last Monday, 40 minutes before the targeted liftoff.
The flight team took the decision to postpone the uncrewed launch after encountering issues cooling one of the four main engines, a valve glitch and a hydrogen leak.
Mission managers met on Tuesday (August 30th) to discuss data and address issues that arose during that first launch attempt.
In order to remedy the engine temperate issue, NASA’s launch teams at the Kennedy Space Center will begin chilling the rocket’s engines earlier in the countdown.
The European Space Agency’s European Service Module (ESM) remains ready to drive the Orion spacecraft onwards to the Moon.
Though there is no crew aboard Artemis I, the ESM is designed to provide for astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion, taking the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
The countdown restarts for the first human-rated launch to the Moon in over half a century.
Watch the most powerful rocket ever built launch on 3 September from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, live on NASA TV:
Or follow the livestream on ESA Web TV starting at 18:15 CEST (17:15 BST):
The launch window will run from 14:17 to 16:17 EDT (19:17 to 21:17 BST / 20:17 to 22:17 CEST).
Top image: NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher as it moves up the ramp at Launch Pad 39B, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
