CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WFLA) — After multiple failed launch attempts and a delay due to Hurricane Ian, NASA set a date for their next try at launching the Artemis I rocket.
On Wednesday, the agency announced that it could roll the rocket back to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center as soon as Friday, Nov. 4. The rocket was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building ahead of Hurricane Ian.
NASA determined that only minor repairs would need to be conducted after the storm passed. The agency plans to repair damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system, recharge and replace batteries, and perform maintenance on the secondary payloads and flight termination system – a process that will blow up the rocket if it goes off course and threatens people on the ground.
The agency will once again attempt to launch Artemis I during a 69-minute window that opens at 12:07 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 14. Back-up launch windows were requested for Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 1:04 a.m. and Saturday, Nov. 19, at 1:45 a.m., which are both two hours long.
If the Nov. 14 attempt is successful, NASA said the mission would last about 25 days before the rocket splashes down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, Dec. 9.
Artemis I is an unmanned flight test to send the Orion Spacecraft on a trip around the Moon and back to Earth, aiming to thoroughly test its system without astronauts on board.
