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How and When to Watch NASA’s Artemis I Moon Launch on Saturday


A technical glitch caused NASA’s massive Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, to leave the launch pad on Monday. So NASA will try again on Saturday, hoping that their engineers have worked out the problem. Here’s what you need to know about the second attempt to get started Artemis I quest.

The launch is scheduled for 2:17 p.m. Eastern time. In the event of unfavorable weather or technical problems, take-off may be delayed by about two hours, until 4:17 pm

NASA TelevisionOnline coverage of the Artemis rocket I launched started at 5:45 a.m., when a commentator would describe the process of filling the rocket’s giant propellant tanks. You can watch it in the video player embedded above. Full agency coverage will begin at 12:15pm

Insurance in Spanish will start at 1pm

Forecasts show a 60% chance of favorable weather at the start of the launch window and the odds improving to 80% by the end of the two-hour period.

You can subscribe to The Times space and astronomical calendar to receive reminders on your personal calendar of launches and other events.

If Artemis I were to come off the ground, coverage would continue for about two hours after takeoff via what’s known as a trans-moon jet engine that works to propel the Orion spacecraft out of low-Earth orbit. in orbit to the moon.

If the launch is delayed, NASA could also attempt to launch on Monday, September 5, or Tuesday, September 6. Current forecasts give a 70% chance of favorable weather on Monday.

If the rocket doesn’t leave the ground by Tuesday, NASA will need to return it to the Vehicle Assembly Building, which is essentially a giant garage for rocket maintenance. The launch attempt then could be in late September or in October.

The launch was halted on Monday because a sensor reported that one of the rocket’s four core-stage engines was not cooled enough, part of the necessary preparation before ignition.

John Honeycutt, program director overseeing the development of the Space Launch System rocket, said the temperature of three of the engines approaching the target was minus 420 degrees Fahrenheit, while the temperature of the engines was Wednesday seems about 40 degrees warmer. If the engine overheats, it may have shut down during takeoff.

At a news conference on Thursday, mission officials said analysis of other data convinced them that the temperature sensor was faulty and that the engine was indeed cold enough.

For astronauts to get to the moon, they need a big rocket. The Space Launch System is a rocket — the most powerful since Saturn V sent NASA astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s. The one awaiting launch on Monday is 322 feet tall, and will weighs 5.5 million pounds when filled with propellant.

The rocket, known as the SLS, has some visual similarities to the retired space shuttles. Here’s by design: To simplify development of the new Moon rocket, NASA reused much of its 1970s space shuttle technology.

The cargo of Monday’s Space Launch system was Orion, a capsule designed for weeks-long voyages beyond low Earth orbit. It will have no crew for this flight but can carry up to four astronauts. If this flight is successful, the quartet of astronauts will take on the next mission, Artemis II.

After takeoff, several events will happen in quick succession.

Just over two minutes after leaving the ground, the two slender side boosters attached to the Space Launch System’s massive core stage will run out of solid rocket fuel and fly away, crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.

After eight minutes of flight, the core stage’s four engines will shut down. That stage will then leave, and the second stage of the Orion rocket and capsule (which will carry future astronauts) will then fly into space on its own.

About an hour and a half after launch, the second stage will fire again in about 18 minutes, known as a trans-moon injection. That is, the second phase will propel Orion to the moon. After the engine burns out, the Orion separates from the second stage.

On Day 6, Orion will begin its orbit over the moon, moving toward what is known as a retrograde orbit.

The exact length of the mission varies depending on the launch date. If Artemis I launches on Saturday, Orion will leave retrograde orbit on Day 27, and on Day 33, it will begin its return trip to Earth. Splashdown will launch on October 11, ending a 38-day mission.

“It’s a future where NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon,” Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, said at a press conference this month. “And in these increasingly complex missions, astronauts will live and work in deep space and will develop the science and technology to send the first humans to Mars.”

NASA also hopes to encourage private companies interested in the steady business of flying science instruments and other payloads to the moon, and to inspire students to enter the fields of science. science and technology.

For scientists, the new focus on the moon promises to yield a lot of new data in the years to come. There is particular interest in the amount of water ice on the moon, which could be used to provide water and oxygen to future astronauts and fuel missions into deeper space.

Scientists don’t know how much water there is or how easy it will be to get it out of the surrounding rock. Future missions may help address that question.



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