Kennedy Space Center (United States) - (AFP) - NASA 's new massive SLS rocket has been returned to the launch pad in Florida for an attempt to launch it again to the moon within ten days, which will mark an important launch for the program. American "Artemis" to return to the moon.

After two failed launch attempts due to technical problems, the rocket was returned to the Kennedy Space Center assembly building for protection from Hurricane Ian.

NASA took the opportunity to recharge batteries for several parts of the rocket, including the batteries of some of the small scientific satellites installed on it.

The route the SLS took, some kilometers between the assembly building and launch pad 39B, took about nine hours. The process consisted of transporting the missile, which is 98 meters high, on a giant platform that moved very slowly to avoid its vibration as much as possible.

The platform reached its destination at 8:30 am local time.

The Artemis 1 mission, which will carry no astronauts on board, marks the first flight of the United States' program to return to the moon, which aims to bring the first woman and first person of color there.

This will be the first flight of the SLS rocket, which NASA has been developing for more than a decade.

The new missile launch window will open on the night of 13 to 14 November at 4:07 GMT. It is expected to last just over an hour.

If the rocket launch is successful, the mission will take a little more than 25 days, and then the capsule installed on the rocket will land in the Pacific Ocean on December 9th.

The unmanned mission hopes to test the new "SLS" missile in addition to the uninhabited "Orion" capsule on its head, in preparation for future manned flights to the moon. The capsule will reach 64,000 km beyond the moon, farther than any other spacecraft suitable for transporting humans so far.

The main objective of "Artemis 1" is to test the capsule's heat shield as it returns to Earth's atmosphere, at a speed of approximately 40,000 kilometers per hour and a temperature equivalent to half that of the surface of the sun.

Two backup dates have been set, 16 and 19 November.