NASA announces the launch date of its huge rocket to the moon
The US Space Agency (NASA) has renewed its assertion that Wednesday, November 16, is the date for launching its new massive rocket, “SLS”, to the moon.
Audits showed that the storm, "Nicole", which hit Florida, caused only minor damage.
"Nothing prevents" take-off on this date, said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Frey, stressing that the agency's teams were able to reach the launch pad again on Thursday.
The SLS, the most powerful rocket ever built by the US space agency, is scheduled to take off on Wednesday morning, with a two-hour launch window.
The rocket is supposed to launch the unmanned "Orion" capsule to the moon without it landing on its surface. And if the takeoff takes place on time, that is, Wednesday, this mission, which is the first within the large American “Artemis” program to return to the moon, will take 25 and a half days, provided that the returning capsule lands in the Pacific Ocean on December 11th.
Two other reserve dates were set for November 19 and 25 to launch the missile in the event that it cannot take off on Wednesday, according to Jim Frey, who said, “At the moment we are focusing on 16, but if we discover any problem during the power operation and tests, we will have to consider making the attempt.” On November 19".
Free pointed out that the winds of Hurricane “Nicole” that the missile was exposed to while it was on the launch pad in the open air at the Kennedy Space Center did not exceed its endurance.
But he acknowledged that the agency would certainly have kept the missile inside the assembly building had it known in advance that a hurricane was approaching Florida.
NASA had brought the rocket into the building at the end of September to protect it from another hurricane, but it took it out again a few days before Nicole passed.
And “NASA” was forced to cancel at the last moment two attempts to launch this rocket, which were scheduled for the end of August and then at the beginning of September, due to technical problems.
The new “NASA” program, “Artemis”, will allow humans to return to the moon, and transfer the first woman and the first person of color to it, in 2025 at the earliest.
NASA intends to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, which includes building a space station in its orbit, provided that this step will later allow a first trip to Mars.
source:Websites