Five Things to Know Ahead of NASA’s Second Moon Launch Try

tech.hindustantimes.com:

For the second time this week, NASA is attempting to send into space a new rocket to kick off its ambitious Artemis moon program, with the aim of returning people to the lunar surface by as early as 2025. Anticipation is high for Saturday's launch following an initial attempt on Monday.

Artemis I is set for launch at 2:17 p.m. Eastern time when a massive rocket is scheduled to carry aloft an an uncrewed capsule in a test flight critical for advancing NASA's goals of establishing a sustainable presence on the lunar surface and eventually sending people to Mars.

The Artemis I flight will be the first major test of the Artemis program. If all goes well, NASA's massive rocket, called the Space Launch System, built by Boeing Co., will carry future astronauts, riding inside the Orion capsule, made by Lockheed-Martin Corp., to the vicinity of the moon. From there, they will transfer to SpaceX's yet-to-fly Starship for the ride down to the lunar surface. A crewed mission could go forward as early as 2025.

After reaching Earth orbit, the spacecraft will set out on a 37-day mission to orbit the Moon and travel into deep space before returning home. The Orion capsule is slated to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Oct 11.

Both the SLS and Orion are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over their original projected budgets.

NASA tried Monday to get Artemis I off the ground, but flight controllers called off the attempt at 8:34 a.m. Eastern time, one minute after the scheduled two-hour launch window began. NASA was first forced to delay filling the rocket with propellant, due to storms near the launch site. Later a suspected hydrogen leak also paused propellant loading. Finally, an issue chilling down