Listen live today as NASA discusses Artemis 1 moon rocket's hurricane rollback

NASA will discuss its hurricane safety plan for the Artemis 1 moon rocket today (Sept. 27), and you can listen live.

The agency will hold a media briefing today following the approximately 10-hour rollback of the Artemis 1 mission's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket from the launch pad to Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in coastal Florida. The rollback began around 11:20 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 26 (0320 GMT Tuesday), and Artemis 1 entered the VAB just before 9:20 a.m. EDT (1320 GMT) today.

Live coverage of the press conference will be available here at Space.com, via NASA Television, starting around 2 p.m EDT (1800 GMT).

In pictures: NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket looks spectacular in these amazing photos

Artemis 1 was supposed to launch toward the moon today, following several delays for technical or weather reasons. But Hurricane Ian scuttled that plan, and NASA ultimately decided to roll the Artemis 1 stack to the VAB to ride out the storm. A new launch date hasn't yet been announced.

Participants in today's briefing include:

  • Janet Petro, center director, Kennedy Space Center
  • Jim Free, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters

"NASA used the latest information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Space Force, and the National Hurricane Center to guide its decision making. As center director, Petro will provide big picture hurricane preparations underway at Kennedy," agency officials wrote of the briefing.

In photos: NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket spotted from space

Artemis 1 has now rolled back to the VAB three times. The mission also rolled off the pad in late April and early July, after fueling tests that were complicated by several technical issues.

NASA then rolled the rocket out to the launch pad on Aug. 16 and successfully completed another fueling test last week, although several launch opportunities had to be missed due to more issues with the rocket or with weather.

Artemis 1 will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the moon for about 40 days, depending on the launch date, and test key systems ahead of the crewed Artemis 2 moon mission, which is expected to launch in 2024.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace