Artemis-1, the lead flight for the return to the Moon, slipped

The launch of Artemis-1, the first unmanned flight intended to pave the way for man’s return to the moon, will be postponed to March or April 2022: initially scheduled for February 12, it was postponed due to a technical problem to the new NASA Space Launch System (SLS) launcher. This was announced by the American space agency itself.

After a series of tests and verifications, the engineers discovered an anomaly in the communications with the rocket’s avionics and thus decided to replace the flight controller system of one of the four RS-25 engines. , basically his ‘brain’. This will allow the rocket “to recover full functionality while continuing to investigate the root cause of the problem. NASA – the note reads – is developing a plan and an updated program to replace the motor controller while testing continues. “on the rocket integrated into the Orion capsule” and the review of the launch opportunities in March and April “.

The entire Artemis-1 system, which includes both the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, is located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is completing final pre-launch tests. Among the tests that SLS will have to face in view of its first flight are the simulation of the countdown, the filling of the tanks with fuel and the installation of the systems that will interrupt the flight in case of problems.

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Source From: Ansa

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