NASA is going to take two.
On Monday, the space agency failed to launch its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion spacecraft for Artemis I, an uncrewed mission around the moon.
But today they are trying again.
The space agency faced several problems on Monday. First, there was a delay in loading the propellants to the SLS due to a nearby lightning strike, which lasted approximately 40 minutes. Then, once they were able to start, there was a problem with the rate at which the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were being charged, which caused another brief hold.
Then NASA encountered another problem with a helium leak. They had encountered this earlier in their wet dress rehearsals, which involve a sort of mock launch, going through all the steps of a real attempt without getting up.
What ultimately did on Monday’s launch attempt was a problem with one of the rocket’s RS-25 engines. Engine three proved not to have cooled properly and because of all the other takes it ran out of time and they had to scrub the launch.
LOOK | Monday’s Artemis I launch cleared:
NASA scrubs the launch of Artemis I, delaying the return to the Moon
NASA has postponed the launch of Artemis I, the first launch of the agency’s mission to return humans to the Moon. Fuel leaks forced NASA to scrub the unmanned rocket launch.
Today will give NASA a second chance to launch the Artemis I mission.
“Right now we’re on track for a 2:17 p.m. launch. We have a two-hour window,” Jeremy Parsons, Kennedy Space Center’s deputy director of Earth Exploration Systems, told media on Friday.
“And right now the team has done a fantastic job of getting us out of launch attempt number one, fixing all the issues and getting us into a safe configuration for tomorrow’s launch attempt.”
Time is the wild card
The past week has brought many scattered storms along the Space Coast.
Weather official Melody Lovin said there is a 60 percent chance of favorable weather when the launch window opens. That rises to 80 percent closer to the end of the window, and he said he is optimistic.
They will re-evaluate the weather criteria for today’s launch three hours before the 2:17 PM ET window opens.
If NASA can’t launch today, the next chance is Monday, with a 90-minute window opening at 5:12 p.m.
Favorable weather for that window is 70 percent, but Lovin said there is more uncertainty with that forecast.
“I don’t expect the weather to be a show by any means for any of the release windows,” he said.