Status: 08/31/2022 04:02 a.m
The start of the unmanned moon mission “Artemis 1” was actually scheduled for Monday. But the technology went on strike. Now NASA wants to try again this weekend.
A faulty sensor on the rocket. According to NASA, this is the main reason why the moon mission “Artemis 1” was aborted last Monday. The space experts originally assumed that there was a fault in the cooling system in one of the four engines. All four engines have to be cooled to around minus 250 degrees Celsius before takeoff so that the extremely cold fuel in the lines doesn’t cause problems during takeoff.
After examining the data available so far on Monday, however, everything indicates that a sensor on the newly developed rocket had provided incorrect information, rocket manager John Honeycutt said. All other systems monitoring engine temperatures would have indicated the values to be expected.
Sensor cannot be switched to launch pad
Since the possibly faulty sensor cannot be replaced on the launch pad, NASA now wants to develop a plan to be able to start safely with the remaining measurement data. In addition, the cooling phase should be started 30 to 40 minutes earlier.
The next launch attempt is scheduled for Saturday evening at 8:17 p.m. German time. Should this start also have to be cancelled, the only remaining date for the time being is next Monday.