Due to a tropical storm that is predicted to get stronger as it gets closer to Florida, NASA decided to cancel the historic unmanned mission to the Moon’s scheduled launch on Tuesday.
NASA said on Saturday that it was forgoing a launch opportunity and getting ready to roll back from the launch pad while continuing to monitor the Tropical Storm Ian weather prediction.
Ian is expected to “rapidly strengthen” during the weekend as it travels into Florida, the state where the Kennedy Space Center is located and from which the rocket is scheduled to launch.
The Artemis 1 crew will decide on Sunday whether to roll back the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
The orange and white SLS rocket can endure wind gusts of up to 137 kilometres per hour (85 miles per hour) on the launch pad. However, the present launch window, which lasts through October 4, will be lost if it needs to be shielded.
From October 17 through October 31, there will be one possible launch every day, with the exception of October 24-26 and 28.
In order to test the SLS and the unmanned Orion capsule that rides atop, the Artemis 1 space mission seeks to pave the way for future lunar missions with humans on board.
After years of setbacks and cost overruns, the US space agency will feel a great deal of relief if the Artemis 1 mission is a success.
However, NASA would suffer a setback after two prior launch attempts were aborted due to technical issues with the rocket, including a fuel leak.
