![]() ![]() Lately, however, against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable international order, rising global inflation, an energy crisis in Europe and a looming climate catastrophe (as the unbelievable current flooding in Pakistan highlights), there has been increasing talk - at least from the Western "commentariat" - of a new Cold War. The Russian bear still has claws, although they may have been a bit blunted by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. But today the Soviet Union no longer exists. Back then, it was the height of the Cold War. Today, the geopolitical motivations of the 1960s, that spurred the US on to a space program unprecedented in human history, are very different. But this time there is powerful competition from China. So 50 years after the Apollo program that put "man" on the moon the United States is again trying to carry humans to a celestial body. These are exciting times in global space endeavors with the moon missions seen now as stepping stones to human's landing on Mars. Since close to nothing as is humanly possible should be left to chance, especially when the Orion space capsule on the top of the rocket is scheduled to carry human cargo in 2024, it was the correct decision to postpone the launch of Artemis I. With high-end engineering and technologies such as this, "hiccups" are to be expected. ![]() The "fault" was detected as part of vital systems verification and testing. The first time it was cancelled was on Aug 29 because one of the four engines was not "cold enough" for take-off minutes before Artemis I was set to blast off to the moon. The decision on Saturday was the second time in a week that the launch was scrapped. NASA has delayed the launch of the Artemis I new moon program until at least Sept 19 after cancelling a planned launch on Saturday. ![]()
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