Engine Problem Delays NASA Moon Rocket Launch
2022-08-30
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1The American space agency NASA postponed the launch of its new moon rocket on Monday because of an engine problem.
2The launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, was called off about 40 minutes before launch time at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
3NASA said on its website that the problem was linked to difficulties cooling the rocket's main engines to the needed temperature for liftoff.
4The agency said engineers were continuing to gather data and carry out tests on the engines.
5The next launch possibility has been set for Friday, September 2.
6NASA has described the 98-meter SLS as the most powerful rocket ever built.
7It is part of the agency's Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.
8Artemis seeks to land American astronauts on the moon no earlier than 2025.
9It would be the first moon landing by astronauts since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
10Artemis also calls for establishing a long-term base on the moon that could one day launch astronauts to Mars.
11NASA is calling the first launch of the SLS rocket Artemis 1.
12The rocket will carry NASA's Orion spacecraft, or capsule, on a test mission to fly around the moon.
13There will be no astronauts on the spacecraft during the test flight.
14Instead, three mannequins will be placed inside the crew capsule.
15They will be connected to a series of sensors designed to measure radiation and movements during the mission.
16During the trip, Orion is expected to travel 450,600 kilometers from Earth and thousands of kilometers beyond the moon.
17NASA said this will be farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever traveled.
18The mission is expected to last four to six weeks.
19The Associated Press reported NASA officials also discovered communication problems late Sunday involving the Orion spacecraft.
20The problem was causing a delay in communication lines between launch controllers and Orion.
21Officials said that problem was solved by Monday morning.
22The main purpose of the SLS mission is to test the system for a future flight that will include actual astronauts.
23NASA has said that if everything goes well with Artemis 1, a trip involving astronauts could be launched as soon as 2024.
24SLS has been under development for more than 10 years.
25It has experienced a series of costly production delays.
26Orion will take nearly a week to reach the moon, which is about 386,000 kilometers from Earth.
27After passing close to the moon, the capsule will enter a distant orbit with a far point of 61,000 kilometers.
28That will put Orion 450,000 kilometers from Earth.
29At the end of the mission, Orion is expected to hit the atmosphere at 40,000 kilometers per hour on its way to a parachute landing in the Pacific Ocean.
30I'm Bryan Lynn.