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NASA to make second attempt at launching Artemis moon rocket on Saturday

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  • NASA’s moon rocket did not launch on Monday due to technical issues.
  • NASA aims to make a second attempt to launch on Saturday.
  • Monday’s experience was useful in trouble-shooting some problems.

NASA aims to make a second attempt to launch its giant next-generation moon rocket on Saturday, Sept. 3, five days after a pair of technical issues foiled an initial try at getting the spacecraft off the ground for the first time, agency officials said on Tuesday.

But prospects for success on Saturday appeared clouded by weather reports predicting just a 40% chance of favourable conditions that day, while the US space agency acknowledged some outstanding technical issues remain to be solved.

At a media briefing a day after Monday’s first countdown ended with the flight scrubbed, NASA officials said Monday’s experience was useful in trouble-shooting some problems and that additional difficulties could be worked through in the midst of a second launch try.

In that way, the launch exercise was serving essentially as a real-time dress rehearsal that hopefully would conclude with an actual, successful liftoff.

For now, NASA officials said, plans call for keeping the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion astronaut capsule on its launch pad to avoid having to roll the massive spacecraft back into its assembly building for a more extensive round of tests and repairs.

If all goes as hoped, the SLS will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday afternoon, during a two-hour launch window that opens at 2:17 pm, sending the Orion on an uncrewed, six-week test flight around the moon and back.

The long-awaited voyage would kick off NASA’s moon-to-Mars Artemis program, the successor to the Apollo lunar project of the 1960s and ’70s before US human spaceflight efforts shifted to low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station.

NASA’s initial Artemis I launch attempt on Monday ended after data showed that one of the rocket’s main-stage engines failed to reach the proper pre-launch temperature required for ignition, forcing a halt to the countdown and a postponement.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, mission managers said they believe a faulty sensor in the rocket’s engine section was the culprit for the engine cooling issue.

As a remedy for Saturday’s attempt, mission managers plan to begin that engine-cooling process roughly 30 minutes earlier in the launch countdown, NASA’s Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said. But a full explanation for the faulty sensor requires more data analysis by engineers.

“The way the sensor is behaving doesn’t line up with the physics of the situation,” said John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS program manager.

The sensor was last checked and calibrated months ago in the rocket factory, Honeycutt said. Replacing the sensor would require rolling the rocket back to its assembly building, a process that could delay the mission for months.

The first voyage of the SLS-Orion, a mission dubbed Artemis I, aims to put the 5.75-million-pound vehicle through its paces in a rigorous demonstration flight pushing its design limits before NASA deems it reliable enough to carry astronauts.

Named for the goddess who was Apollo’s twin sister in ancient Greek mythology, Artemis seeks to return astronauts to the moon’s surface as early as 2025, though many experts believe that the time frame will likely slip by a few years.

The last humans to walk on the moon were the two-man descent team of Apollo 17 in 1972, following in the footsteps of 10 other astronauts during five earlier missions beginning with Apollo 11 in 1969.

Artemis also is enlisting commercial and international help to eventually establish a long-term lunar base as a stepping stone to even more ambitious human voyages to Mars, a goal NASA officials say would probably take until at least the late 2030s to achieve.

But NASA has many steps to take along the way, starting with getting the SLS-Orion vehicle into space.

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Punjab will provide fifty thousand solar kits.

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On Tuesday,Tuesday, while presiding over a review meeting on solar household solutions, the CM gave the order to begin the installation of one kilowatt solar systems right away. She also gave the order to introduce the newest solar systems.

Phase-I solar systems would be balloted for by 50,000 protected users who use 100 units each month, at a cost of Rs 12.6 billion.

Home-based solar systems will eventually be made available to other Punjabi consumers. A solar system will consist of a battery, inverter, sophisticated solar plate, and more related accessories.

Attending the meeting were Provincial Information Minister Azma Zahid Bukhari, MPA Sania Ashiq, Former Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Chief Secretary, Chairman Planning and Development, Secretaries of Energy, Finance, and Punjab Power Development Board (PPDB) Managing Director, in addition to other pertinent officers.

During his inaugural speech as Punjab’s chief minister, Maryam Nawaz outlined her five-year plan and promised to develop a strategy for customers who use fewer than 300 units of power.

According to Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N’s main goals for her term will be to provide jobs, healthcare, and education.

She said, “I am working on a plan to provide solar panels to consumers using up to 300 units of electricity or less in installments.”

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Pakistan

There will be free WiFi in public parks.

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The discussion on the province’s capital city’s beautification was chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

CM Gandapur gave the pertinent authorities instructions at the meeting to complete the arrangements and submit the free WiFi service plan for the province government’s approval.

In the following phase, he said, the service will be extended to more cities. In addition, the chief minister gave the Peshawar Development Authority instructions to create a beatification plan for the city.

The meeting voted to launch a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service on Nasir Bagh Road in the province capital with the goal of facilitating the easy mobility of the population.

CM Gandapur pushed for the installation of underpasses rather than overhead bridges and ordered the city’s street lights to be converted to solar power.

The chief minister gave the order to begin work on the road around the BRT Corridor at University Road as well as the building of the remaining section of Warsak-Nasir Bagh Road right away.

In order to promote KP’s culture, he also oversaw the installation of fake plants on all road walks and painted headbridges and walls with designs.

The chief minister of KP gave the order to approach business organizations for assistance in this respect.

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Pakistan

FM Ishaq Dar praises IAEA for using nuclear technology in a “peaceful” manner

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During a meeting with IAEA Director General (DG) Rafael Mariano Grossi outside the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, Pakistan, a founding member of the Agency, stressed the importance of the Agency’s work.

He stated that Pakistan placed a high value on the Agency’s efforts as a founding member.

The foreign minister also emphasized Pakistan’s goal to increase the proportion of nuclear energy in the country’s energy mix and the significance of nuclear energy in the fight against climate change.

Ishaq Dar went on to stress the importance of the Agency’s technical cooperation initiatives, to which Pakistan makes a major contribution as well.

According to the foreign minister, banks and other international financial institutions should support nuclear energy projects in developing nations so that those countries may meet their energy needs and meet their zero emissions commitments.

He requested that the IAEA continue raising global understanding of the benefits of nuclear energy as a clean energy source.

The director general of the IAEA commended Pakistan for its cooperation. Rafael Mariano Grossi continued by saying that Pakistan is essential in helping emerging nations by sharing knowledge and experience.

He acknowledged that there was a problem with financing nuclear projects and promised to work with international financial institutions to find a solution as quickly as possible.

The director general of the IAEA reflected fondly on his visit to Pakistan earlier in the year, when he inspected the country’s facilities and witnessed firsthand its progress in the peaceful applications of nuclear technology.

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