NASA Postpones ‘Artemis 1’ Mission for the 3rd Time

The Artemis 1 Moon mission, to be held on September 27, would be the first step of NASA’s return to the Moon after many years. The launch, which was postponed twice due to technical disruptions, has now incurred the wrath of nature and has been postponed once again.

Tropical Storm Ian, which is currently ongoing, has started to make its impact on the USA and is expected to continue to grow until the launch day and turn into a hurricane. NASA will also wait for the storm to subside in order not to throw away the multi-million-dollar project.

NASA won’t try to get rockets through pinhole

Storm Ian, which became a storm on Friday, will turn into a full hurricane by the middle of the week and increase its strength, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Florida, where the launch will take place, will also be affected by this storm. Launching a rocket in these weather conditions seems like pushing a rocket through a pinhole.

NASA officials are currently continuing to closely monitor the progress of the storm. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is a very expensive vehicle, the size of a 32-story building, and will carry the Orion spacecraft. The launch will be unmanned. For this reason, there is still a chance that the project will receive a green light if the conditions are right, but this possibility is close to impossible at the moment.

NASA’s mission has been delayed twice before. Both delays were caused by leaks in the fuel tanks of the SLS rocket. Let’s see if the launch, which has been postponed for the third time, will be possible in the near future.