NASA’s new moon rocket remains on track for a Monday liftoff, despite a series of lightning strikes at the launch pad. Officials said Sunday that neither the rocket nor ground equipment suffered any damage. Five lightning strikes were confirmed Saturday, hitting the 600-foot towers surrounding the rocket at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The 322-foot rocket is the most powerful ever built by NASA. It’s poised to send an empty crew capsule into lunar orbit, 50 years after NASA’s Apollo program. Astronauts could return to the moon in a few years, if this six-week test flight goes well.
On the technical side, Spaulding said the team did its best over the past several months to eliminate any lingering fuel leaks. A pair of countdown tests earlier this year prompted repairs to leaking valves and other faulty equipment; engineers won't know if all the fixes are good until just a few hours before the planned liftoff. If Monday doesn't pan out, the next launch attempt would be Friday.
After so many years of delays and setbacks, the launch team was thrilled to finally be so close to the inaugural flight of the Artemis moon-exploration program, named after Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology. “We're within 24 hours of launch right now, which is pretty amazing for where we've been on this journey,” Spaulding told reporters.
The follow-on Artemis flight, as early as 2024, would see four astronauts flying around the moon. A landing could follow in 2025. NASA is targeting the moon's unexplored south pole, where permanently shadowed craters are believed to hold ice that could be used by future crews.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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