NASA aimed for a launch of its new moon rocket on Saturday, after fixing fuel leaks and working around a bad engine sensor that foiled the first try.
The inaugural flight of the 98-meter rocket — the most powerful ever built by NASA — was delayed late in the countdown on Monday. The Kennedy Space Center clocks started ticking again as managers expressed confidence in their plan and forecasters gave favorable weather odds, reports UNB.
Atop the rocket is a crew capsule with three test dummies that will fly around the moon and back over the course of six weeks — NASA’s first such attempt since the Apollo program 50 years ago. NASA wants to wring out the spacecraft before strapping in astronauts on the next planned flight in two years.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he’s more confident going into this second launch attempt, given everything engineers learned from the first try.
So is astronaut Jessica Meir, who’s on NASA’s short list for one of the initial moon crews.
“We’re all excited for this to go, but the most important thing is that we go when we’re ready and we get it right, because the next missions will have humans on board. Maybe me, maybe my friends,” Meir told The Associated Press on Friday.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
