NASA rocket carrying satellite built by a Ky. university projected to launch Saturday
After a scrubbed launch attempt on Monday, NASA will reattempt the launch of its Space Launch System rocket containing a satellite from Morehead State University on Saturday.
The satellite, titled Lunar IceCube, will orbit the moon and investigate the transportation physics of water ice on the lunar surface, according to MSU. Several MSU faculty and more than 50 MSU students helped create the satellite along with staff members of the Space Science Center.
Lunar IceCube will orbit the moon for roughly 18 months and should circle the moon hundreds of times, per MSU. NASA hopes data collected from the satellite will prove that putting an occupied outpost on the moon is a possibility.
“Lunar IceCube is one of the first of a generation of higher capability CubeSat spacecraft that represents a transition of the technology from Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites to Interplanetary missions,” said Nathan Fite, MSU space systems engineer and Lunar ICECube program manager.
The satellite will act as a secondary payload onboard the SLS rocket for the Artemis I mission. The rocket will also be carrying satellites from Arizona State University, University of Tokyo and several other research centers, according to NASA.
The SLS rocket is the most powerful rocket ever built, according to the Artemis I mission website. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth and 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon, per NASA.
If successful, the flight will open up future opportunities for lunar space travel, including “landing the first woman and first person of color on the surface of the Moon,” NASA said.
The unmanned Orion spacecraft attached to the rocket will stay in space longer than any human spacecraft has without docking to a space station. It will also return home faster and hotter than ever before.
The mission previously attempted a launch on Monday but it was scrubbed when launch controllers were unable to chill down the four RS-25 engines, with one engine showing higher temperatures than the other engines, according to NASA. Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 give Saturday’s launch attempt a 60 percent chance due to sporadic rain showers are expected in the area
Artemis I launch
When: Saturday, Sept. 3 between 2:17 p.m. to 4:17 p.m. EDT.
Where: Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
How to watch: Live coverage of events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Mission return: Oct. 11, 2022
