The Artemis 1 mission, which aims to send an unmanned NASA Orion spacecraft and a Space Launch System rocket to the Moon, was delayed after the rocket leaked fuel, forcing controllers to abort the second attempt this week.
Monday’s first attempt to send a crew capsule with test dummies into lunar orbit was also thwarted by a hydrogen leak elsewhere on the 98-meter-long NASA-built rocket.
After the latest failure, mission managers decided to pull the rocket off the pad and move it to the hangar for further repairs and system updates. It will take several weeks of work, officials said.
The test flight is expected to be the first return to the moon in nearly 50 years.
Saint-Jacques, who was to watch the launch from the Canadian Space Agency’s headquarters in suburban Montreal, said the excited space enthusiast was disappointed, but the sober engineer knows it was the right call.
“It’s the right thing, there’s no need to rush the launch,” Saint-Jacques said.
It was not immediately clear when NASA might try again. Saint-Jacques said a window remains open until about Tuesday, but after that the moon won’t be in the right spot in the sky for a few weeks.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday that the launch would be interrupted until October if the rocket had to return to the hangar for repairs.
The $4.1 billion test flight is the first step in NASA’s program for the renewed Artemis lunar rover, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.
Saint-Jacques said the test flight is important, noting that a Canadian astronaut is expected to be part of Artemis 2, the first crewed flight since Apollo 17 in 1972, which is scheduled to fly around the moon and return in 2024.
The flight would make Canada the second country ever to send someone around the moon.
“This is going to be huge for our nation,” Saint-Jacques said. “Everyone remembers where they were when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, I think everyone will remember where they were when a Canadian launched himself on the moon.”
Canada is also contributing Canadaarm 3 to the Lunar Gateway, a planned lunar orbiting space station that is to be a key part of the Artemis program. Canadian researchers and companies are also participating in the program.
Saint-Jacques said the Artemis program will reintroduce humans to the lunar environment, but also provide a training ground for missions to Mars. The first step, however, is to remove the Artemis 1 mission from the launch pad so scientists can learn everything they need to from the test run.
Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued a statement on Saturday expressing his disappointment.
“Like many Canadians, I’m anxiously awaiting a successful launch of Artemis I. But as you know, this is a very complex mission and it’s important to see that it’s done safely and done right,” Champagne said.
“We’ve waited almost 50 years for humans to return to the Moon, so whether they wait a few days or a few weeks, Canada will be front and center in humanity’s next steps in space exploration.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 3, 2022.
– with files from the Associated Press
Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
