Storm forces NASA to postpone launch of rockets to the moon again

NASA announced Tuesday that it has again postponed sending its unmanned mission to the Moon, this time due to Tropical Storm Nicole, which is moving toward Florida’s east coast.

The launch attempt, which was initially scheduled for November 14, is now planned for November 16, Jim Frey, a senior US space agency official, said on Twitter.

NASA has already aborted two launch attempts for its Artemis 1 mission, in late August and September.

“Adjusting the release date of Artemis 1 prioritizes employee safety and allows our team to meet the needs of their families and homes,” wrote Frey, NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development.

The storm, which is currently located over the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to turn into a hurricane on Wednesday near the Bahamas, then reach Florida later in the day or early Thursday morning, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

A hurricane watch has already been issued for the coast, where the Kennedy Space Center is located, and where the rocket will depart.

With Nicole’s reinforcement, NASA has decided to “reschedule the launch of the Artemis 1 mission to Wednesday, November 16, pending safe conditions for personnel to return to work, as well as post-storm inspections,” the agency said in a statement. Tuesday.

The launch window opens at 01:04 AM local time (03:04 GMT) on November 16, with a second safety date set for November 19.

On Monday, NASA announced that it had decided, based on available forecasts, to leave the rocket on the launch pad, where it was placed only a few days ago.

The 98-meter SLS rocket had to be returned in late September to its assembly facility, a few kilometers away, to protect it from Hurricane Ian.

The cost of the missile, which did not take off and was called off twice at the last minute in recent months due to technical problems, is estimated at several billion dollars.

The Artemis 1 test mission, without a crew on board, will mark the first flight for the United States’ pioneering program to return to the Moon.

In its next steps, the Artemis program aims to put the first woman and first black person on the moon, but not before 2025.

NASA also wants to establish a permanent human presence there, which may include building a space station in lunar orbit. For the space agency, this is a necessary step in planning the first manned flight to Mars.