NASA’s Artemis I lift off cancelled: live coverage
WATCH: Artemis I launch live
While the latest stage of the Artemis rocket testing has been postponed, it won’t be long before the tests are complete and astronauts are back on the moon once more.
NASA sees a return to the moon as the first step on the path to a manned mission to Mars and Artemis is the boots it will use for the journey.
Originally budgeted at $10 billion, the total cost of the SLS rocket has now doubled to $20 billion. Each separate launch was originally expected to cost in the region of $500,000 but that has now increased eightfold to over $4 billion per launch. The overall cost of the Artemis programme up to 2025 is estimated at $93 billion.
When could the launch happen?
The earliest a rescheduled launch can be held is the coming Friday, September 2. However, that is reliant on the problem being fixed in time.
Launch commentator Derrol Nail said engineers were investigating the engine problem and “we must wait to see what shakes out from their test data.”
If more extensive work is required then the rocket will need to be taken to the Kennedy Space Center which would push the next launch time back until at least the end of September.
The launch has been postponed after problems with a the engine as well as a fuel leak in a crucial component on the launchpad.
The fuel leak affected liquid hydrogen storage in one of the rockets. This was in the same location that scuppered trial launches back in the Spring and something the engineers will need to sort before any launch can take place.
LAUNCH CANCELLED
NASA have just announced the launch director "has called a scrub for the day". An engine bleed that "couldn't be remedied" the cause.
These technical issues are "common" - astronaut
Especially for the first flight of a brand new spacecraft, this is the first time the rocket's been brought close to take off.
There are many opportunities for new things to crop up. I really hope we're ready.
Prep work continues on the rocket
While fuelling the rocket is taking place, engineers have found cracks and damage on a link between fuel chambers of hydrogen and oxygen.
There’s also a problem with one of the four huge RS-25 engines.
Artemis I is scheduled to lift off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday 29 August, within a two-hour window that opens at 8:33 am EDT.
Artemis I will take off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket generating some 8.8 million pounds of thrust during liftoff, the most powerful NASA rocket to date. The SLS will carry the Orion into Earth orbit, before the rocket’s core stage separates from the spacecraft. The SLS’ interim cryogenic propulsion stage will then produce the thrust required to take the Orion out of Earth orbit and towards the Moon.
What route will Artemis I take?
Once the Orion spacecraft reaches the Moon, assisted by the launch rocket, it will come to within 62 miles of the lunar surface, before settling into an orbit at an altitude of about 40,000 miles. After six days in lunar orbit, it will begin its journey back to Earth, where the final stage of the mission will test the craft’s ability to complete a safe return home.
The 43-day journey is pictured here, helpfully provided by researchers at Kurzgesagt.
Good morning on a historic day in Space travel!
It's a beautiful morning in Cape Canaveral, Florida as NASA prepares to launch Artemis I and kick off the return of human to the moon.
While this is an unmanned mission, the launch will be the first US mission to the moon in 50 years. NASA hopes to send astronauts back to the surface no later than 2025.