The rocket is, after all, a new machine-even if its design is based on space-shuttle-era technology. Now, as agency officials continue to troubleshoot the rocket, the rhetoric has changed somewhat: They’re quick to reiterate that Artemis I is a test flight and a risky one at that. It’s a delay, yes, but in the bigger picture of things, we are reestablishing the launch capability that this country gave up after Apollo.” “What we’re seeing on the launchpad is actually rather typical for new launch systems when they first go into operation,” says Daniel Dumbacher, who oversaw the SLS’s initial development while he was at NASA and now serves as executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The next attempt is tentatively scheduled for September 27, with a potential backup date of October 2-pending a successful tanking test and permission to launch. And NASA’s first two launch attempts, scheduled for August 29 and September 3 at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), failed. Named after the Greek god Apollo’s sister, Artemis is NASA’s moonshot-the agency’s plan to return humans to the lunar surface and perhaps ultimately send them on to Mars.īut first, the SLS needs to get off this planet. “ We are going,” NASA declared in the days before the space agency attempted to launch its Artemis I mission, the first test of a megarocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) and a crew-rated spacecraft called Orion. Astronauts, NASA officials and aerospace industry executives squeeze into bars, which are rife with chatter about NASA’s flagship human space exploration program. Large temporary street signs carry launch-day traffic advisories. Colorful hand-painted placards proclaiming “Go Artemis!” adorn storefronts. In and around Cape Canaveral, Fla., it’s all things Artemis.
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