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NASA Artemis-I mission has been delayed once more, this time due to the signs of a tropical storm. Artemis-I was set for its launch on Sep 27, 2022. NASA had almost made all the necessary preparations for the launch of Artemis-I. But the worsening weather conditions near the launch site and the warning of a possible tropical storm have caused the organization to cancel the launch events. As per the latest notifications by NASA, it is closely monitoring the weather conditions but has also started the rollback procedures for the spacecraft.
This is not the first time that the launch of Artemis-I has been delayed. For the first time, the launch of Artemis-I was delayed on August 29, as during the countdown, one of four liquid-fueled engines failed to respond. After this delay, NASA set the launch date to September 3. But by that time, the NASA engineers were unable to fix the issue with the engines, so the launch was delayed again till late September. The whole world had its eyes targeted on the launch scheduled on September 27. But this time, the weather conditions forced the officials to cancel the launch to ensure a safe launch of the spacecraft.
The Artemis-I mission was set for a launch at launch pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The state of Florida has issued a storm alert mainly in the southern part of the state as Tropical Storm Ian is approaching the state. The area at Kennedy Space Center, Florida is forecasted to have cloudy weather with rain throughout the week., which suggests that the Artemis-I will not be launching in September. Because of the weather conditions, NASA held a meeting with the teams involved in the launch. The teams suggested calling off the launch, as such conditions greatly increase the chances of accidents. All the preparations which were ongoing for the launch on Sep 27, 2022, were halted and the teams started the preparations for a rollback of the Space Launch System. NASA stated that it is following a systematic approach while addressing these issues. It is continuously monitoring the weather conditions for setting up the next launch date. NASA stated that it is following all the weather updates from the National Hurricane Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NASA’s Artemis program is aimed at sending humans back to the Moon and setting a base on the Moon. NASA has also planned to send the first woman to the Moon through the Artemis. Artemis program is being referred to as the successor to the Apollo program which gave NASA its initial success in space explorations. The Apollo program was named after the Greek god of the divine distance. The Artemis program is named after the Greek goddess of the Moon who was also the twin sister of Apollo.
The Artemis-I mission is a test flight for the Artemis-I rocket which will be carrying the Orion spacecraft to outer space. The mission has crew modules such as the Orion spacecraft, Lunar Gateway, and the Human Landing System. Artemis-I will carry test dummies equipped with several sensors to test the effect of radiation on humans, particularly on a woman’s body. In succession to the Artemis-I, NASA has also planned objectives for the Artemis-II and Artemis-III. The Artemis-II mission will be the first crewed mission in the Artemis program. The mission is aimed at sending humans 7,402 km beyond the moon, completing a flyby, and returning to Earth. With Artemis-2, humans will complete the milestone of going farthest from the earth. Artemis-III will be the mission that will take humans back to the moon.
Yash Ranjan09/26/2022
