Potential hurricane delays NASA lunar launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is skipping this week’s launch attempt of its new moon rocket because of a tropical storm that’s expected to become a major hurricane.
It’s the third delay in the past month for the lunar-orbiting test flight featuring mannequins but no astronauts, a follow-up to NASA’s Apollo moon-landing program of a half-century ago.
Hydrogen fuel leaks and other technical issues caused the previous scrubs.
Tropical Storm Ian, which is in the Caribbean, is expected to become a hurricane by Monday and slam into Florida’s Gulf coast by Thursday. The entire state, however, is in the cone showing the probable path of the storm’s center.
Given the uncertainties, NASA decided Saturday to forgo Tuesday’s planned launch attempt and instead prepare the 322-foot rocket for a possible return to its hangar.
“During a meeting Saturday morning, teams decided to stand down on preparing for the Tuesday launch date to allow them to configure systems for rolling back the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building,” NASA posted on its website.
Managers will decide Sunday whether to haul it off the launch pad.
If the rocket remains at the pad, NASA could try for an Oct. 2 launch attempt, the last opportunity before a two-week blackout period. But a rollback likely would mean a lengthy delay for the test flight, possibly pushing it into November.
The Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA.
Assuming its first test flight goes well, astronauts would climb aboard for the next mission in 2024, leading to a two-person moon landing in 2025.