Update September 3: The mission has been scrubbed. There could be chances to try for launch on the 5th and 6th of September, but after that it"ll have to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building until October. In a statement about the launch failure, NASA said:
"The launch director waived off today’s Artemis I launch attempt at approximately 11:17 a.m. EDT. Teams encountered a liquid hydrogen leak while loading the propellant into the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket. Multiple troubleshooting efforts to address the area of the leak by reseating a seal in the quick disconnect where liquid hydrogen is fed into the rocket did not fix the issue. Engineers are continuing to gather additional data."
We will update this post as necessary and bump it to the top of the news if a launch is likely to go ahead.
NASA is due to launch its Artemis I mission in a little while. Its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will take the Orion spacecraft to space before the latter begins its journey to the Moon for an orbit. Aboard Orion will be some mannequins wearing the new spacesuits and a bunch of sensors just to make sure the suits are adequate.
While there are no people aboard this mission, it finally marks the beginning of NASA"s path back to the Moon. In 2024, Artemis II will send astronauts on a lunar flyby and in 2025 astronauts will go down to the lunar surface. There are many more missions planned through to the mid-2030s that will see a moon base established and a space station be built in orbit around the Moon.
NASA has multiple streams for the event today, There"s the official stream which will keep an eye on the rocket and a dedicated Artemis I broadcast. Here"s the NASA live stream:
Below, you can find the dedicated NASA Artemis I stream:
This mission has been delayed so many times to date, so keep your fingers and toes crosses that nothing goes wrong, and we finally see the long-awaited launch!