Europe 1 with AFP 2:34 p.m., September 27, 2022, modified at 2:36 p.m., September 27, 2022

Disturbed by Hurricane Ian in Florida, the launch of the Artemis 1 mission has once again been postponed.

NASA officials waited for the latest forecasts of the storm to make the decision to retract the rocket, although this maneuver presented risks for the craft.

One more report.

NASA's new mega-rocket for the Moon will be re-entered into its hangar to be sheltered from a hurricane, the US space agency said on Monday (September 26th).

An operation that

indefinitely

postpones the take-off of the long-awaited Artemis 1 mission, already postponed several times.

NASA officials "met Monday morning and made this decision based on the latest forecast for Hurricane Ian," NASA wrote in a blog post.

>> READ ALSO -

 For the first time for humanity, NASA hits an asteroid to deflect it

A 98 meter high monster

The rocket, 98 meters high, is currently out on its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

The complex maneuver to get it back to the gigantic assembly building, a few kilometers away, was to start at 11 p.m. local time (5 a.m. in France).

The rocket is transported on a huge platform rolling very slowly, in order to avoid as much as possible the vibrations that could damage it.

This is "the right decision" to keep the teams and the rocket "safe", tweeted NASA associate administrator Jim Free.

Hurricane Ian, currently south of Cuba, is expected to move up to Florida later this week via the Gulf of Mexico.

 NASA waited until the last moment to make its decision, because if the rocket could have been left outside, a takeoff attempt could have been scheduled just after the storm passed.

After reviewing the forecast for #Ian, we will roll our #Artemis I vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building tonight.

It was the right and necessary decision to keep our people and hardware safe: https://t.co/3PM6T0RhF4pic.twitter.com/YFAONEyihY

— Jim Free (@JimFree) September 26, 2022

No new date announced

But there will now be no time to get the rocket out before the end of the current firing period, which runs until October 4.

NASA has given no indication of a future launch date.

The next firing period will run from October 17 to 31, with one possibility of take-off per day (except from October 24 to 26 and 28).

The next is from November 12 to 27 (except November 20, 21 and 26).

After already two take-off attempts canceled at the last moment a few weeks ago, in particular because of a fuel leak during the filling of the rocket's tanks, this new setback is very unwelcome for NASA.

Fifty years after the last mission of the Apollo program, Artemis 1 must be used to verify that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport a crew to the Moon in the future.