On the evening of September 3, NASA and Boeing intend to make another (second) attempt to launch the super-heavy Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle with the Artemis 1 mission – the Orion spacecraft must make an unmanned flight around the Moon and return to Earth. Last time ( August 29 ), the launch of the mission was prevented by a problem with a hydrogen leak in one of the engines of the main stage of the rocket and the weather, which began to deteriorate rapidly (forty minutes before the window opened, the countdown timer was stopped).

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Updated [18:44]: NASA announced the postponement of the SLS launch due to a hydrogen leak in the refueling connection – the malfunction could not be fixed. The stage of refueling ICPS never came. The next launch window will open on Monday, September 5th.

It is not yet clear whether the teams will have time to make the necessary changes to fix everything. There is a high probability that the rocket will have to be returned to the vertical assembly shop for operating time to fix problems. In this case, the launch will move out to the second half of September or already in October. NASA will hold a press conference later today with more details.

Learn more about the #Artemis I mission — including the updated mission timeline — with the Artemis Press Kit: https://t.co/N8EsAWnODF

Get a mission overview, learn what the weather criteria for a launch is, and more! pic.twitter.com/SkVz18iz5o

— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) September 2, 2022

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It is SLS that in the future should return Americans to the moon and help humanity get to Mars approximately in the 2030s. Today’s Artemis 1 test mission is to launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft into orbit and then travel around the moon and return to Earth. The Orion SLS rocket will launch from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex LC-39B on Merritt Island, Florida, where Apollo 10 launched 53 years ago. And, of course, a live broadcast of this historic event is planned.

The two-hour launch window will open at 21:17 Kyiv time. The official weather forecast for the opportunity suggests a 60 percent chance of favorable launch conditions. Like last time, the weather data will be constantly updated, so things can still change for better or for worse.

NASA is broadcasting the event live on the official website , YouTube channel and the NASA app – the stream will start at 19:15 Kyiv time. Like last time, you can watch the preparatory stages, in particular, refueling the main and upper stages of the rocket with cryogenic fuel components. Unofficial broadcasts from space enthusiasts are also planned – the same NASASpaceflight or the Ukrainian Alpha Centauri (broadcast windows on YouTube below). You can also follow the updates on social networks – in the official accounts of NASA SLS, ULA and Boeing on Twitter – 1 , 2 and3.

NASA official broadcast

Unofficial NASASpaceflight broadcast

Unofficial broadcast of Alpha Centauri

Artemis 1 is the first test flight of the Orion spacecraft (the old name of the Orion EM-1 mission) using the SLS rocket. This is a demonstration flight with an exit to a lunar orbit and a return to Earth to test the performance of a ship passing without a crew. Orion is scheduled to spend three weeks in space, including three days in retrograde lunar orbit. The duration of the mission is 42 days. It will end with a splashdown of the ship off the coast of Florida. If everything goes according to plan, Orion will return to Earth on October 11th.

Read more about the Artemis program and the details of the first flight in our previous article.

NASA launches SLS for the first time, the $11 billion super-heavy launch vehicle in development since 2011 for missions to the Moon and Mars [Updated: cancelled]