Ian builds suspense over Artemis I mission liftoff 0:40
(CNN) --
NASA has set a new date for another launch attempt for its Artemis I mission after Hurricane Ian forced the space agency to roll its massive rocket back to its hangar at Florida's Kennedy Space Center this week. end of last month.
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion spacecraft on board, is seen atop the mobile launcher as it heads to the Vehicle Assembly Building from Launch Pad 39B, Tuesday, September 27, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA
The 69-minute launch window for the Space Launch System, or SLS, will open at 12:07 a.m. ET on Monday, November 14, NASA said Wednesday.
If the launch is successful, the 98-meter-tall rocket will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth to test its systems.
The mission is expected to last 25 days, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, December 9.
This Is Why NASA Is Taking So Long To Try Another Artemis I Launch
The space agency said "minimal work" was required to prepare the Orion rocket and spacecraft for transfer to the launch pad, a slow 4-mile trip that could come as early as Friday, Nov. 4.
The overall goal of NASA's Artemis program is to return humans to the Moon for the first time in half a century.
And the Artemis I mission, expected to be the first of many, will lay the groundwork, testing the rocket and spacecraft and all their subsystems to ensure it's safe enough for astronauts to fly.
But launching this first mission has not been an easy task.
Technical problems frustrated the first two attempts, while Hurricane Ian ruined the third.
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NASA requested two-hour launch windows for Wednesday, November 16 at 1:04 a.m. and Saturday, November 19 at 1:45 a.m.
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