WASHINGTON, April 6, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The latest test of NASA's giant Moon
rocket SLS has been pushed back to allow for a SpaceX rocket to launch later
this week, the US space agency announced Tuesday.

   The dress rehearsal for the giant Space Launch System had been scheduled
for Friday at launch pad 39B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the same time as
SpaceX's lift-off from pad 39A.

   The test of the rocket, which is to return humans to the Moon, is now
expected to resume shortly after the take-off of the SpaceX flight, which is
to carry three businessmen and a former astronaut to the International Space
Station.

   The 322-foot (98 meters) SLS rocket will remain on its launch pad while
waiting.

   In this final test before blast-off for the Moon later this year, all the
steps leading up to launch must be rehearsed, from filling the tanks to the
final countdown, which will be stopped just before the engines fire.

   The run-through started last Friday and was originally scheduled to end
late Sunday, but NASA teams encountered "a whole myriad of technical
challenges" as well as uncooperative weather on Saturday, said Mike Sarafin,
the mission manager for the Artemis Moon landing.

   Among the problems encountered were four lightning strikes hitting the
launch pad during a thunderstorm, which at least proved that the protection
system had worked as planned.

   But the problems were not "major issues," Sarafin said. "We haven't run
into any fundamental design flaws or design issues."

   "We take pride in learning from these tests," he said, calling the ones
already carried out in recent days "partially successful."

   Artemis 1 will mark the first flight of the SLS, whose development has
lagged years behind schedule.

   The Orion capsule at its top will be propelled to the Moon, where it will
be placed in orbit before returning to Earth.

   The first mission will not have astronauts on board. The take-off date is
to be announced after the so-called "wet" dress rehearsal.

   A launch window is possible in early June, and Sarafin said he was "not
ready to give up on it yet."

   Another launch window is possible in early July.