The launch of NASA’s new mega-rocket to the Moon scheduled for early Monday afternoon has been canceled due to a technical problem on one of the engines principals of the machine, NASA indicated in its direct video, postponing de facto for at least a few days this launch, which must mark the beginning of the great American space program back on the Moon, Artemis. Another launch attempt could take place this Friday, September 2, then September 5, if NASA teams manage to find a solution.
Engine problem
Liftoff of Artemis 1 was originally scheduled for 8:33 a.m. (2:33 p.m. Paris time) from launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. But from that night, it was necessary to delay the filling of the tanks of the most powerful rocket in the world, 98 meters high, because of a too high risk of lightning. Then a leak was detected when filling the main stage with hydrogen, before a solution was found and the flow resumed.
Finally, around 07:00 a.m. local time, a new problem was detected: one of the four RS-25 engines, under the main stage of the rocket, failed to reach the desired low temperature, a necessary condition to be able to launch it. ‘to light up. The countdown has therefore been stopped.
“Dreams and Hopes”
Between 100,000 and 200,000 people were expected to attend the show, including the Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris. Fifty years after Apollo’s last flight, the Artemis 1 mission should indeed mark the launch of the American program to return to the Moon, which should enable humanity to then reach Mars, aboard the same ship. Built in collaboration with the European Space Agency in particular, this unmanned mission aims to verify that the vehicle – the Orion capsule – is safe for future astronauts, including the first woman and the first person of color who will walk on the lunar surface.
Two minutes after takeoff, the boosters will fall back into the Atlantic. After eight minutes, the main stage will detach in turn. Then, after about an hour and a half, a final push from the upper stage will put the capsule on its way to the Moon, which it will reach after several days. The main objective of the mission is to test the heat shield of the capsule, which will return to the Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 40,000 km / h, and a temperature half as hot as the surface of the Sun.
Instead of astronauts, mannequins took place on board, equipped with sensors recording vibrations and radiation levels. Microsatellites will also be deployed to study the Moon, or even an asteroid. The capsule will venture up to 64,000 km behind the Moon, farther than any other habitable spacecraft so far. A complete failure of the mission would be devastating for a rocket with a huge budget (4.1 billion per launch, according to a public audit) and several years late (ordered in 2010 by the American Congress for an initial date of takeoff in 2017) .
Astronauts on the Moon in 2025
After this first mission, Artémis 2 will carry astronauts to the Moon in 2024, without landing there. An honor reserved for the crew of Artemis 3, in 2025 at the earliest. NASA then wants to launch about one mission per year. The goal : establish a lasting human presence on the Moonwith the construction of a space station in orbit around it (Gateway), and a base on the surface.
There, humanity must learn to live in deep space and develop all the technologies necessary for a round trip to Mars. A journey of several years that could take place “at the end of the 2030s, according to Bill Nelson. But before that, going to the Moon is also strategic, faced with the ambitions of competing nations, notably China.