New Delhi: NASA, which on Monday called off the launch of Artemis I from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida following a glitch in one of the rocket’s engines, will re-attempt the launch on Saturday (September 3).
During the countdown on Monday, one of the four RS-25 engines of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket did not cool to the desired low temperature — about minus 420 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 250 degrees Celsius).
Engine 3 cooled to roughly minus 380 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 230 Celsius), John Honeycutt, manager of the SLS program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, said. NASA engineers suspect a faulty temperature sensor on Engine 3.
Artemis I is an uncrewed mission, the first step of the Artemis program, which aims to put humans on the moon once again and then on Mars.
The Artemis I mission will last 42 days, during which it will join the lunar orbit. The capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
