Nasa calls off Monday launch of giant Moon rocket

Agencies | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Nasa on Monday called off the launch of its mighty new moon rocketAccording to AFP, Nasa scrubbed the test flight because of a temperature issue with one of the four RS-25 engines. Alternative dates for launch of the Artemis1 mission, an uncrewed flight around the Moon, are September 2 and September 5. Nasa's colossal next-generation megarocket was set for its long-awaited debut launch on Monday, on an uncrewed, six-week test flight around the moon and back, marking the first mission of the space agency's Artemis program, the successor to Apollo.

The 32-story-tall, two-stage Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion crew capsule were due for blast-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The maiden voyage of the SLS-Orion — a mission dubbed 'Artemis I' — is intended to put the 5.75-million-pound vehicle through its paces in a rigorous demonstration flight which will push its design limits, before Nasa deems it reliable enough to carry astronauts.