NASA’s Artemis 1 launch was canceled due to a problem with one of the rocket’s engines, the problem being the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. But the US space agency has not given an update on the next launch date, although there are two more launch windows. SLS is the most large rocket ever built by NASA. It will be used to send astronauts back to the moon. Artemis 1 ran into trouble because team engineers noticed that one of the engines had problems with liquid hydrogen. Controllers struggled to cool the 100m-long car’s engine to proper operating temperature. They were previously concerned about what appeared to be a crack on top of the rocket but eventually, it was merely ice build-up.
NASA needs to be aware of the weather as it looks at new launch opportunities. Things are very dynamic in Florida this time of year. Electrical storms often pass over spaceports. It is better to try to launch in the morning. It is usually quiet. It is usually quiet. But when SLS finally lifts off this Friday and next Monday afternoon, the rocket’s job will be to propel a test capsule called Orion far from Earth. The spacecraft will loop around the moon in a big arc before returning home six weeks later in a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Engineers are most concerned that Orion’s heat shield will cope with the extreme temperatures it will encounter during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
