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Take 2: NASA aims for Saturday launch of new moon rocket

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NASA will try again Saturday to launch its new moon rocket on a test flight, after engine trouble halted the first countdown this week.

Managers said Tuesday they are changing fueling procedures to deal with the issue. A bad sensor also could be to blame for Mondayโ€™s scrapped launch, they noted.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket โ€” the most powerful ever built by NASA โ€” remains on its pad at Kennedy Space Center with an empty crew capsule on top.

The Space Launch System rocket will attempt to send the capsule around the moon and back. No one will be aboard, just three test dummies. If successful, it will be the first capsule to fly to the moon since NASAโ€™s Apollo program 50 years ago.

Proceeding toward a Saturday launch will provide additional insight, even if the problem reappears and the countdown is halted again, said NASAโ€™s rocket program manager, John Honeycutt. Thatโ€™s better โ€œthan us sitting around scratching our heads, was it good enough or not.โ€

โ€œBased on what Iโ€™ve heard from the technical team today, what we need to do is continue to pore over the data and polish up our plan on putting the flight rationale together,โ€ he said.

During Mondayโ€™s launch attempt, readings showed that one of the four main engines in the rocketโ€™s core stage could not be chilled sufficiently prior to the planned ignition at liftoff. It appeared to be as much as 40 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) warmer than the desired minus-420 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-250 degrees Celsius), the temperature of the hydrogen fuel, according to Honeycutt. The three other engines came up just a little short.

All of the engines appear to be fine, according to Honeycutt.

The chilling operation will be conducted a half-hour earlier for Saturday afternoonโ€™s launch attempt, once fueling begins that morning. Honeycutt said the timing of this engine chilldown was earlier during successful testing last year, and so performing it sooner may do the trick.

Honeycutt also questioned the integrity of one engine sensor, saying it might have provided inaccurate data Monday. To change that sensor, he noted, would mean hauling the rocket back into the hangar, resulting in weeks of delay.

Already years behind schedule, the $4.1 billion test flight is the opening shot in NASAโ€™s Artemis moon-exploration program, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology. Astronauts could strap in as soon as 2024 for a lap around the moon and actually attempt a lunar landing in 2025.

Source: United News of Bangladesh