NASA to try again with SLS Moon rocket launch this month:
NASA will attempt, for the third time now, to blast off its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the Moon in late September.
Officials are targeting September 23 at the earliest, and September 27 as a potential backup should it have to scrub the launch yet again. Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development, confirmed at a briefing on Thursday the American space agency had asked the US Space Force division for approval to fly on those dates.
Designed to fly the first woman and another man to the Moon sometime this decade (ideally) under the Artemis program, the SLS is NASA's most powerful rocket to date.
Its launch, if and when it happens, will be the rocket's first major test, during which it will carry an unmanned crew capsule into space so that the pod can detach and circle the Moon before returning to Earth. When it is time to set foot on the lunar surface again, an SLS rocket will be used to send a capsule carrying astronauts to the Moon, using a SpaceX lander to bring them down to the regolith.
But with two failed SLS launches so far and costs totaling more than $20 billion for an expendable launch vehicle that was once planned to lift off in 2016, skeptics say NASA should stop building its own rockets and just subcontract it all out to private companies, such as SpaceX.
The SLS has remained grounded at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida since it was rolled out in August. The first attempt to launch on August 29 was called off due to a faulty sensor reading that led officials to believe one of its engines may be running too hot. The second attempt on September 3 was also cancelled after a hydrogen leak was detected.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Barenflimski on Saturday September 10 2022, @03:18AM (3 children)
Maybe next time, it won't leak hydrogen.
Turn up the pumps, pump it in faster than it can leak! Light the fuse and go!
No problems here if the tanks fill.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 10 2022, @03:56AM (1 child)
Fill it with the lightest element, it will be fine!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by isostatic on Sunday September 11 2022, @09:19AM
As hygrogen is lighter than air, then clearly the more they put in the lighter the rocket will become, eventually taking off on its own.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday September 10 2022, @09:22AM
That's kinda what caused the problem. They turned the pumps on too high and damaged the connector. Then they couldn't fix it before the launch window closed.
I just passed a drug test. My dealer has some explaining to do.
(Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Saturday September 10 2022, @05:42AM (2 children)
Given that it’s Boeing / United Launch Alliance, if it doesn’t turn into a Roman candle leaving the launch pad, I’ll be surprised. Those people’s main purpose today is to soak up as much pork as they can, successful technology is entirely secondary.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Saturday September 10 2022, @07:45AM (1 child)
"The purpose of a system is what it does".
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Opportunist on Saturday September 10 2022, @10:14AM
That's why smart engineers write the specs after they are done making the product.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Saturday September 10 2022, @04:18PM
... doing stuff is hard. Hope they make it work this time.