NASA Moon Rocket Again in Hangar, Launch Unlikely Till Nov.

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

NASA’s moon rocket returned to the security of its hangar Tuesday as Hurricane Ian approached Florida, its launch now unlikely earlier than mid-November.

Instead of attempting to ship it on its first take a look at flight, the launch workforce moved the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket off the pad at Kennedy Space Center. The four-mile (6.4-kilometer) journey took all night time.

NASA official Jim Free mentioned it will be troublesome to improve the rocket and get it again to the pad for an October launch try. Putting in contemporary batteries is especially difficult, Free famous, making it uncertain a launch may very well be tried earlier than the mid-to-late October launch interval closes. The subsequent two-week window would open Nov. 12.

The Space Launch System rocket ought to have blasted off a month in the past, however was delayed twice by gasoline leaks and engine points.

Once in house, the crew capsule atop the rocket will intention for lunar orbit with three take a look at dummies, an important costume rehearsal earlier than astronauts climb aboard in 2024. The final time a capsule flew to the moon was throughout NASA’s Apollo 17 lunar touchdown in 1972.

SpaceX’s subsequent astronaut flight to the International Space Station for NASA, in the meantime, has been delayed at the least at some point by the hurricane. Liftoff is now no sooner than subsequent Tuesday.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely accountable for all content material.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.