Science NASA Resets Historic Artemis I Launch For Saturday, But Weather Casts Doubts On Plan Eric Mack Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover science and innovation and products and policies they create. New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Aug 30, 2022, 06:50pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin TOPSHOT - The sky begins to clear before dawn, highlighting the Artemis-1 moon rocket at Launch Pad . . . [+] 39 at the Kennedy Space Center, in this view from Titusville, Florida on August 23, 2022. - Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight, will feature the first blastoff of the massive Space Launch System rocket, which will be the most powerful in the world when it goes into operation. It will propel the Orion crew capsule into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft will remain in space for 42 days before returning to Earth. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images After engine issues forced NASA Monday to scrub the long-awaited test voyage of its Space Launch System (SLS) on the Artemis I mission , the space agency has now set this Saturday, September 3 for a make-up date. However, weather forecasters from the US Space Force who work with missions leaving Florida’s Cape Canaveral warn there is only a 40 percent chance conditions will allow the launch to take place, according to data available Tuesday. NASA launch managers made the announcement during a press conference Tuesday afternoon. SLS was originally supposed to launch with an uncrewed Orion capsule Monday morning from the Kennedy Space Center. An issue with an “engine bleed” led mission engineers to call a scrub just after 8:30 a. m. ET. The massive rocket is the space agency’s biggest and most powerful ever, providing more thrust than even the Saturn V system that carried Apollo astronauts to the moon. The Artemis I mission is meant to mark the debut of the new NASA program aiming to return astronauts to the surface of the moon to set up a permanent presence and set the stage for missions to Mars in the 2030s. MORE FOR YOU New Research Finds A Connection Between Domestic Violence And These Two Personality Disorders This Scientist Helps Andean Forests And Ecuador’s Women In STEM Exceptional Fossil Preservation Suggests That Discovering Dinosaur DNA May Not Be Impossible Artemis I will send the empty crew capsule on a more-than-month long journey around the far side of the moon, farther than any human-rated craft has ever traveled, before coming back for a splashdown on Earth. It is the only test mission NASA is planning for SLS before putting astronauts atop the vehicle in 2024 for Artemis II. The next launch availability for Artemis I that would produce the desirable alignment of worlds is actually Friday, but NASA is opting instead to target the two-hour launch window that starts at 2:17 p. m. ET Saturday. If Saturday doesn’t work out, the next available launch window is on Monday. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website . Eric Mack Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.