NASA delays Artemis moonshot with astronauts due to extreme cold in Florida
6 days ago
- #Space Exploration
- #NASA
- #Artemis
- NASA delays the first Artemis moonshot with astronauts due to near-freezing temperatures at the launch site.
- The launch is now targeted for no earlier than February 8, two days later than originally planned.
- A critical fueling test was postponed and is now set for Monday, weather permitting.
- NASA has only a few days in February to launch before slipping into March.
- Heaters are being used to keep the Orion capsule warm, and rocket-purging systems are being adapted to the cold.
- Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew remain in quarantine in Houston, with their arrival at Kennedy Space Center uncertain.
- NASA has limited launch windows each month for its first lunar crew mission in over 50 years.
- Complicating matters is the need to launch a fresh crew to the International Space Station as soon as possible.
- The moonshot will take priority if it can launch by February 11, the last possible launch date for the month.
- If the moonshot proceeds, the next station crew will have to wait until the Artemis astronauts return to Earth.