The world was watching and expecting NASA to make their grand return to the moon with the Artemis 1 mission but the launch was scrubbed.
On August 29 NASA was attempting to launch its first Artemis mission, but NASA had to cancel at t-minus 40 minutes due to technical issues.
The Artemis 1 mission is a six-week long mission and will travel 65,000 km to the moon and back. It is the first time mankind is returning to the moon in 50 years. Now the agency has to try again.
Artemis 1 is unmanned
Artemis 1 is an unmanned mission meaning there will be any passengers in its Orion capsule. At least not any human passengers. However, aboard the Orion capsule will be three test dummies. These manikin bodies are made of materials that will stimulate the human body. Skin, bones and organs.
Why is this crucial for future missions? These manikins will provide scientists back on earth with crucial data about how space affects the human body. The manikins are going to play an important role when it comes to radiation in space. Scientists need to be fully aware of how space is going to impact people in future missions.
The commander of the mission will be Commander, Moonikin Campos. The name was picked as a dedication to Arturo Campos. He was a key player in bringing the Apollo 13 mission safely back to earth. Accompanying Campos on this mission are manikins Helda and Zohar named by the German German Aerospace Center and Israel Space Agency.
What happened to Artemis 1?
The Artemis 1 rocket was rolled onto the launch pad ready for take-off. The teams fuelled the rocket but at t minus 40 minutes, engineers asked for more time. They had found a crack ‘in the thermal protection system on a flange of the core stage booster’.
However, after some searching, the ground engineers found that there was a malfunction with one of the RS-25 engines. As NASA put it the engine was ‘not properly being conditioned through the bleed process’. Due to safety concerns, they decided to call off the launch for that day.
Basically, the liquid hydrogen tank did not cool down enough to the right temperature needed for launch.
‘We don’t launch until it’s right,’ NASA administrator Bill Nelson. Space is a dangerous thing so if it means delaying the launch by a few days then you have to trust that NASA made the right call. Mankind remembers all the tragedies that have happened in space and in this new era of space exploration, it is even more important that we start on the right foot.
What will happen with Artemis 1?
After calling off the launch on August 29 NASA investigated the problem and then set a new launch date. The agency already had two backup dates in case the first launch had to be scrubbed.
In a tweet, on Tuesday, the agency announced that they would try again with a launch on 3 September. The two-hour launch window will open at 2.17pm Eastern Time (19.17 GMT).
Tune in then if you want to watch as humanity returns to the moon aboard Artemis 1.