INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ground teams at Kennedy Space Center prepared on Saturday for a second try at launching NASA&s towering, next-generation moon rocket on its
debut flight, hoping to have remedied engineering problems that foiled the initial countdown five days earlier.The 32-story tall Space
Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule were due for blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 21:47 (Kabul time) Saturday kicking
off NASA&s ambitious moon-to-Mars program Artemis program 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission, Reuters reported.The previous launch
bid on Monday ended with technical problems forcing a halt to the countdown and postponement of the uncrewed flight.Tests indicated
technicians have since fixed a leaky fuel line that contributed to Monday&s canceled launch, Jeremy Parsons, a deputy program manager at the
space center, told reporters on Friday.Two other key issues on the rocket itself & a faulty engine temperature sensor and some cracks in
insulation foam & have been resolved to NASA&s satisfaction, Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin told reporters Thursday night.Weather is
always an additional factor beyond NASA&s control
The latest forecast called for a 70% chance of favorable conditions during Saturday&s two-hour launch window, according to the U.S
Space Force at Cape Canaveral.If the countdown clock were halted again, NASA could reschedule another launch attempt for Monday or
Tuesday.Dubbed Artemis I, the mission marks the first flight for both the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, built under NASA contracts with
Boeing Co (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin Corp.It also signals a major change in direction for NASA&s post-Apollo human spaceflight program,
after decades focused on low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station.The post NASA ready for second attempt at
Artemis lunar launch first appeared on Ariana News.
