Ian Causes Further Artemis Delays

In anticipation of the possible effects locally of Hurricane Ian, NASA has decided to roll the Artemis I SLS rocket back to the vehicle assembly building. That means the mission to the moon is now pushed back to October or perhaps beyond. The four mile move got underway last night around 11, and it is expected to take at least 11 hours to move the rocket back to the VAB on the Crawler Transporter. If not for Hurricane Ian, the next attempt to launch the rocket and its un-crewed Orion capsule would have been today. While a backup opportunity remains available for this coming Sunday, October 2, that will not come into play now that the decision to rollback the rocket has been made. The very earliest that it could now fly is October 17th.