-Advertisement-

Nasa cancels Moon rocket launch because of engine problem

Source The Ghana Report

Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson cancelled the planned launch of Artemis I as a result of an engine bleed issue, Nasa says.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is said to be in a “stable configuration”, and engineers will now work on gathering data to see what went wrong.

The rocket was due to be launched a short time ago, at 08:33 Florida time (13:33 BST).

The next available opportunity for a launch is 2 September, Derrol Nail of Nasa says, although he adds this is dependent on the fix for the engine bleed issue.

The countdown clock is still on hold here at Kennedy.

We’ve just heard that the team is working on a troubleshooting plan – one of the four huge engines that they need to launch the rocket can’t cool down enough.

The flight director wants to look at the data and computer modelling to see what happens next.

The problem is that they’re facing some major time constraints. The launch window is set to open at 13:33BST – and they only have two hours to get this rocket up.

Even if the engine issue is resolved, it’s not clear if the team can catch up and get this rocket off the ground in time.

The Space Launch System has been called the “mega Moon rocket” – for good reason.

Not only is it a colossal 98m high, it’s also the most powerful rocket Nasa’s ever built.

Standing on the launchpad, 90% of its weight is fuel: vast amounts are needed to get this monster off the ground.

So, it uses two enormous rocket boosters, as well four huge engines, to do the heavy lifting.

It needs all this power to escape the gravity of the Earth, and then push a spacecraft – called Orion – towards the Moon.

Orion is located near the top of the rocket, and it’s where the astronauts will eventually sit in future missions.

The spacecraft has an epic journey – it will fly more than a million miles – as it travels around the Moon and then returns to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific.

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published.

You might also like