NASA scraps launch of unmanned mission to moon due to tropical storm

NASA postponed the launch of its historic unmanned mission to the moon set for Tuesday due to a tropical storm that is expected to grow as it approaches Florida, news agency AFP reported.

"NASA is forgoing a launch opportunity... and preparing for rollback (from the launchpad), while continuing to watch the weather forecast associated with Tropical Storm Ian," the aeronautic agency said on Saturday.

The tropical storm 'Ian' is expected to "rapidly intensify" throughout the weekend as it creeps into Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center, from whence the rocket was planned to launch.

According to AFP, the Artemis 1 team will decide whether to wheel back the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Sunday.

On the launch pad, the orange and white SLS rocket can survive wind gusts of up to 137 kilometers per hour. However, it must be shielded, the present launch window, which runs until October 4, will be missed.

Notably, the next launch window will span from October 17 to 31, with one launch opportunity every day except on October 24-26 and 28.

The Artemis 1 space mission aims to test the SLS and the unmanned Orion spacecraft that sits atop it in preparation for future human-manned moon missions. After years of delays and expense overruns, a successful Artemis 1 mission will be a big relief for the US space agency.

However, another setback would be a blow to NASA, as two earlier launch attempts were canceled due to technical issues, including a fuel leak.

READ| DART asteroid impact to be captured by NASA's Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes