The historic Artemis 1 mission will launch from Pad 36B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The unmanned flight was approved by NASA last week for its scheduled launch on Aug. 29.
A two-hour window beginning at 8:33 a.m. EDT or 12:33 p.m. GMT has been set aside for liftoff.
However, storm clouds were seen hours before the launch. Will the Artemis program launch amid such weather conditions?
Weather Forecast on Aug. 29
The weather within NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has fluctuated over the past week between beautiful skies and torrential downpours. According to Space.com, this is usual for much of Florida in the summer, however, it can come and go within minutes.
The publication noted that the probability of good launch conditions on Monday is forecasted to be 80% throughout the first half of the window and to be just 60% by the end of the second hour.
Space.com said the center has protocols and guidelines for everything, including a number of weather-related protocols that call for sheltering in place in the event of lightning.
Artemis 1 Had to Many Testings Before Obtaining the 'Go' Signal
Artemis 1 had to undergo many technical issues before NASA officially approved its launch.
The announcement follows a flight readiness review that showed there were no significant technical issues that would have caused the launch to be delayed.
NASA should verify that all required systems are approved for launch, lunar flight, and splashdown on Earth before launch. In the previous weeks, various works were done at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to fix issues that were found during the wet dress rehearsal before the SLS stack leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
Who Will Aboard Artemis 1
As previously mentioned, this flight will be unmanned. However, this doesn't mean that 'something' cannot aboard Artemis 1 upon its launch.
Meet Shaun the Sheep!
Shaun the Sheep, a well-known stop-motion British television character, will travel on the new SLS's first flight to launch the Artemis program.
Shaun has been sighted flying aboard a special Airbus "zero g" A310 aircraft that simulates circumstances similar to microgravity to "train" for the mission, according to a statement from Aardman and the ESA.
On this journey, Orion and Shaun will fly approximately 500,000 kilometers (311,000 miles), a distance unmatched by any person or stop-motion animated character.
According to Engadget, Shaun and Commander Moonikin Campos will go in the Orion spacecraft of the organization beyond the moon on this trip.
If all goes as planned, the capsule should land on Earth after 39 to 42 days in space.
Since Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin brought a small doll with him, it has become standard practice for space crews to bring a plush toy on missions. Some unmanned flights have also been a part of this tradition.
