Science News Roundup: NASA to make second attempt at debut moon rocket launch on Saturday; NASA's next-generation Artemis moon rocket tanks up for debut launch

But prospects for success on Saturday appeared clouded by weather reports predicting just a 40% chance of favorable conditions that day, while the U.S. space agency acknowledged some outstanding technical issues remain to be solved. NASA's next-generation Artemis moon rocket tanks up for debut launch Ground teams at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday began fueling NASA's giant, next-generation rocketship for its debut launch on an uncrewed test flight to the moon, five days after an initial liftoff attempt was thwarted by technical problems.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

NASA to make second attempt at debut moon rocket launch on Saturday

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 favorable conditions that day, while the U.S. space agency acknowledged some outstanding technical issues remain to be solved.

NASA's next-generation Artemis moon rocket tanks up for debut launch

Ground teams at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday began fueling NASA's giant, next-generation rocketship for its debut launch on an uncrewed test flight to the moon, five days after an initial liftoff attempt was thwarted by technical problems. The 32-story tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule were due for blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT), kicking off the U.S. space agency's ambitious moon-to-Mars Artemis program 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/3PPRsbN)

(With inputs from agencies.)