• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Arriving Valentine’s Day: A Pair Of DC Comics Non-Binary Characters
  • What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?
  • ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

Engine issue forces NASA to scrub launch of giant Moon rocket

Towleroad August 29, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
AFP
639220 origin 1
NASA's SLS rocket and the Orion capsule at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Kennedy Space Center (United States) (AFP) – NASA called off a test flight on Monday of its largest-ever rocket in a setback to the ambitious program to send humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

“We don’t launch until it’s right,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine temperature issue forced liftoff from Kennedy Space Center to be scrubbed.

“This is a very complicated machine,” Nelson said. “You don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go.”

Alternative dates for launch of the US space agency’s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission are Friday and next Monday.

Blastoff had been planned for 8:33 am (1233 GMT) but was cancelled because of a temperature problem with one of the four RS-25 engines on the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

NASA said a test to get one of the engines to the proper temperature range for liftoff was not successful.

It said the SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule which sits on top “remain in a safe and stable configuration.”

Nelson said delays were “just part of the space business” and expressed confidence that NASA engineers will “get it fixed and then we’ll fly.”

Tens of thousands of people — including US Vice President Kamala Harris — had gathered near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the launch, which comes 50 years after Apollo 17 astronauts last set foot on the Moon.

The goal of the flight is to test the SLS and Orion crew capsule. Mannequins equipped with sensors are standing in for a crew for the mission.

Overnight operations to fill the orange-and-white rocket with more than three million liters of ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen were briefly delayed by a high risk of lightning.

Around 3:00 am, another hiccup emerged: a potential leak was detected during the filling of the main stage with hydrogen, causing a pause. After tests, the flow resumed.

NASA engineers later detected the engine temperature problem and put a hold on the countdown before eventually scrubbing the launch.

The rocket’s Orion capsule is to orbit the Moon to see if the vessel is safe for people in the near future. At some point, Artemis aims to put a woman and a person of color on the Moon for the first time.

Extreme temperatures

During the 42-day trip, the Orion capsule will orbit the Moon, coming within 60 miles (100 kilometers) at its closest approach, and then fire its engines to shoot out 40,000 miles — a record for a spacecraft rated to carry humans.

One of the mission’s primary objectives is to test the capsule’s heat shield, which at 16 feet in diameter is the largest ever built.

On its return to Earth’s atmosphere, the heat shield will have to withstand speeds of 25,000 miles per hour and a temperature of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) — roughly half as hot as the Sun.

The dummies aboard the spacecraft will record acceleration, vibration and radiation levels.

The craft will also deploy small satellites to study the lunar surface.

A complete failure would be devastating for a program costing $4.1 billion per launch that is already years behind schedule.

Life on the Moon

The next mission, Artemis 2, will take astronauts into orbit around the Moon without landing on its surface. The crew of Artemis 3 is to land on the Moon in 2025 at the earliest.

And since humans have already visited the Moon, Artemis has its sights set on another lofty goal: a crewed mission to Mars.

The Artemis program is to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon with an orbiting space station known as Gateway and a base on the surface.

Gateway would serve as a staging and refueling station for a voyage to Mars that would take a minimum of several months.

Topics: Aaon, Space More Posts About: NASA

Related Posts
  • NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia’s leaky Soyuz ship
  • NASA Moon mission ‘exceeding’ expectations
  • NASA prepares for third attempt at Artemis lunar rocket launch
  • What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

    What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

    Published by Euronews (English) It’s not always easy keeping up with emerging acronyms and new jargon that goes viral on social platforms. Often, words are given new meaning and the latest is “mascara”, which no longer …Read More »
  • ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

    ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

    Published by The Charlotte Observer John Waters knows what makes a “John Waters movie,” but he isn’t sure movie critics do. “I hate those movies, because they just mean they’re gross, or they have one drag …Read More »
  • Slovenia law enables full equality for same-sex marriages, including allowing LGBTQ+ people to adopt children

    Slovenia law enables full equality for same-sex marriages, including allowing LGBTQ+ people to adopt children

    Published by Global Voices People under a rainbow flag at 2019 Pride March in Skopje, North Macedonia. Photo by Global Voices, CC BY 3.0. This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished …Read More »
  • Mexico City: A heady cocktail of history, flair and fab food

    Mexico City: A heady cocktail of history, flair and fab food

    Published by DPA The cathedral on the Zócalo is considered the largest on the American continent. Philipp Laage/dpa Colonial palaces, the legacy of the Aztecs and Frida Kahlo, kaleidoscopic nightlife and cuisine – plus mezcal – …Read More »
Previous Post: « Dove Cameron dedicates MTV VMA to ‘all of the queer kids out there’
Next Post: Pain of breaking inflation will reverberate around the globe »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • How Orlando’s gay community, after Pulse, helped spur proposed changes to blood donor rules

    How Orlando’s gay community, after Pulse, helped spur proposed changes to blood donor rules

  • Fabiola Santiago: Of course lying George Santos has ties to Florida. It’s where truth ‘comes to die’

    Fabiola Santiago: Of course lying George Santos has ties to Florida. It’s where truth ‘comes to die’

  • Shockingly racist actions by San Diego cops revealed in internal reports

    Shockingly racist actions by San Diego cops revealed in internal reports

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

    James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

  • Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

    Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

RSS Partner Links

  • Holly Madison Explains Why She Was Never On Birth Control While With Hugh Hefner
  • Kenneth Anger, First Out Gay Filmmaker, Turns 96
  • Kylie Jenner’s Getting Dragged For Throwing Her Kids An Astroworld-Themed Party (Again) Despite The Festival’s 2021 Crowd Surge Tragedy
  • In Ron DeSantis's Florida, Young Girls Have To Report Their Periods
  • Jane Fonda Didn't Think She Would Live Past 30 While Battling Eating Disorder
  • OMG have you heard: Ben Aldridge on his coming out
  • Nick Carter Countersues Women Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault

Most Recent

  • Arriving Valentine’s Day: A Pair Of DC Comics Non-Binary Characters

    Arriving Valentine’s Day: A Pair Of DC Comics Non-Binary Characters

  • What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

    What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

  • ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

    ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

  • Slovenia law enables full equality for same-sex marriages, including allowing LGBTQ+ people to adopt children

    Slovenia law enables full equality for same-sex marriages, including allowing LGBTQ+ people to adopt children

  • Mexico City: A heady cocktail of history, flair and fab food

    Mexico City: A heady cocktail of history, flair and fab food

  • Culture Wars: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders To Sign A Bill BANNING Drag Shows To ‘Protect Kids’

    Culture Wars: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders To Sign A Bill BANNING Drag Shows To ‘Protect Kids’

  • Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s gay relationship ‘The Last of Us’ (Ep 3) will be  2023’s memorable TV moment

    Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s gay relationship ‘The Last of Us’ (Ep 3) will be 2023’s memorable TV moment

  • Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

    Many self-identified heterosexuals report feeling attracted toward individuals of the same sex, study finds

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×