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Sorry everyone who was looking forward to watching a piece of history today, Artemis I won’t be flying just yet. NASA’s return to the Moon has been postponed for a few days following issues with one of the four engines of the core stage of the rocket.
Engine 3 is not reaching the proper temperature range required to start them. The process is done by bleeding some of the cryogenic propellants to the engines, but that engine is not playing ball at all.
The countdown stopped at T minus 40 minutes for a while before the launch was scrubbed.
The next launch window for the mission is Friday, September 2. Artemis I has a two-hour launch window on that day starting from 12:48 pm ET (4:48 pm UTC). The mission return would be 40 days later on October 11, unlike the 42-days mission if it had flown today. If it’s postponed further, the next window is on September 5 starting at 5:12 pm ET (9:12 pm UTC) and lasting 90 minutes. A launch then will have the mission last 43 days with a return on October 17.
The Orion capsule of Artemis I will spend six days of the mission in orbit around the Moon. It will test important technology, paving the way for Artemis II, the first crewed mission in lunar orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
