CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Nearly 50 years after the last mission to the moon, NASA is once again counting down to a lunar launch.
The Artemis I mission, an uncrewed test flight, is scheduled to blast off from Kennedy Space Center later this morning.The two-hour launch window opens at 8:33 a.m., but delays are starting to pile up and a lot of things have to go right for the historic mission to get underway.First, the weather has to cooperate.
It’s been a stormy few days in Florida – a bolt of lightning even struck Launch Pad 39B’s lightning diversion system on Saturday, though the rocket was not damaged.
Nearby lightning also delayed the start of fueling by an hour as showers swept onshore early this morning.Forecasters expect an 80-percent chance of good weather when today’s launch window opens, but an increasing chance of rain lowers that chance to 60 percent by mid-morning.NASA's SLS rocket stands ready for the Artemis I mission late Sunday night, August 28. (FOX photo) Even if the weather is good, mission managers still face a lot of challenges dealing with a brand-new rocket.