(CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA) — The launch of an Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s biggest rocket ever to blast off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center this morning is scrubbed.
Currently, the launch is “scrubbed” for a liquid hydrogen engine bleed.
The launch of #Artemis I is no longer happening today as teams work through an issue with an engine bleed. Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt. https://t.co/tQ0lp6Ruhv pic.twitter.com/u6Uiim2mom
— NASA (@NASA) August 29, 2022
The next launch window won’t open before Friday.
NASA’s unmanned Artemis One space capsule was expected to blast off starting at 8:33.
The last manned flight to the moon was Apollo 17 back in 1972.
This first unmanned mission is expected to take about 42 days to complete before returning to Earth.
If all goes well with this test flight by 2024-26, Americans including the first woman and person of color could be going to the moon to stay.
The Artemis SLS rocket is 322 feet tall and 15% more powerful than the rockets from NASA’s last Apollo moon mission 50 years ago.
Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals, vegetation and of chastity and childbirth. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo.