Is the Artemis 1 mission cursed?

The takeoff of the new NASA rocket for the Moon has been postponed again to Wednesday, November 16, at the earliest;

NASA announced on Tuesday.

In question, this time, the storm Nicole which should hit Florida in the middle of the week.

Take-off was so far scheduled in less than a week, on November 14.

But the US space agency said in a statement that it wanted to allow its employees to meet “the needs of their families” in the face of this storm.

After its passage, NASA will also need "enough logistical time" to put the rocket back in its launch configuration, she added.

The storm is expected to turn into a hurricane

On November 16, the firing window will open at 7:04 a.m. (French time), but this new date is suspended on “safe conditions for employees to return to work, as well as inspections after the passage of the storm”, NASA said.

If necessary, another fallback date had previously been set, on November 19.

NASA also said it was working on possible "additional launch opportunities".

The storm, which is currently over the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday near the Bahamas, before reaching Florida overnight Wednesday or Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC ).

A hurricane alert was issued on the coast in the Kennedy Space Center area, where the rocket is on its launch pad.

Several attempts canceled

Named SLS, the machine is designed to withstand winds of 74.4 knots, or approximately 137 km/h.

“Current forecasts predict that the greatest risks on the launch pad are strong winds, which are not expected to exceed the design of SLS”, reassured NASA.

"The rocket is designed to withstand heavy rain," the space agency also added.

On Tuesday afternoon, sustained winds from Nicole reached “100 km/h, with higher gusts,” according to the NHC.

And the storm is expected to strengthen further.

This summer, two takeoff attempts were canceled at the last moment, due to technical problems when filling the rocket's tanks with fuel.

Then, the 98-meter-high machine had to be returned to its assembly building at the end of September, a few kilometers away, to be protected from another hurricane, Ian.



The Artemis 1 test mission, without an astronaut on board, is to mark the very first flight of the major American program back to the Moon.

The program must then make it possible to take the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon, in 2025 at the earliest.

NASA also wishes to establish a lasting human presence there with, in particular, the construction of a space station in orbit around the Moon.

For the American space agency, this is a step that should then allow a first trip to Mars.

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