NASA cancels second attempt to launch giant rocket to the moon

 For the second time in five days, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Saturday stopped the countdown and postponed a planned attempt to launch a new-generation giant rocket in the first mission of its "Artemis" program, which is scheduled to include flights from the moon to Mars. The giant rocket was supposed to be launched towards the moon, Saturday, after technical problems that caused the delay of this process last Monday were resolved.

On Monday, the agency spotted a crack in the large orange fuel tank containing 4 main engines, with ice appearing around the suspected area, according to NASA officials. The mission of "Artemis 1" is to launch the unmanned Orion capsule into orbit around the moon, to verify that the craft is safe for future astronauts.

Earlier, Mike Sarafin, a NASA official for the "Artemis" mission, said: "There is no guarantee that we will succeed in the launch Saturday, but we will try."After 42 days in space, the main goal is to test the capsule's heat shield as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere, at a speed of nearly 40,000 kilometers per hour and a temperature half the temperature of the Sun's surface.

The capsule was scheduled to reach 64,000 km beyond the moon, farther than any other spacecraft capable of transporting humans so far. After this first mission, "Artemis 2" will transport astronauts to the moon in 2024, without landing on its surface.

And the first landing of a manned mission will happen to the crew of "Artemis 3" in the year 2025 at the earliest, and "NASA" seeks to launch one mission annually after that. The launch is a major milestone in Washington's quest to return astronauts to the moon's surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program more than 50 years ago.