NASA Moon Rocket Launch Delayed again, This Time by Storm

NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is seen in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before it is scheduled to make a slow-motion journey to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thom Baur
NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is seen in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before it is scheduled to make a slow-motion journey to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thom Baur
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NASA Moon Rocket Launch Delayed again, This Time by Storm

NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is seen in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before it is scheduled to make a slow-motion journey to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thom Baur
NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is seen in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) before it is scheduled to make a slow-motion journey to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, US March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thom Baur

NASA again rescheduled its long-delayed uncrewed mission to the Moon on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Nicole churned toward the east coast of Florida, officials said.

A launch attempt, which had been scheduled for November 14, will now take place on November 16, Jim Free, a senior official at the US space agency, said on Twitter.

It is the third delay of the highly-anticipated launch in as many months, AFP said.

"Our people are the most important aspect of our mission," wrote Free, who is NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development. "Adjusting our target launch date for #Artemis I prioritizes employee safety and allows our team to tend to the needs of their families and homes."

The Atlantic Ocean storm was expected to develop into a hurricane Wednesday near the Bahamas, before making landfall in Florida either later that evening or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.

A hurricane warning has been issued near the Kennedy Space Center, where the rocket -- NASA's most powerful ever -- is to blast off.

With Nicole gaining strength, "NASA... has decided to re-target a launch for the Artemis I mission for Wednesday, Nov. 16, pending safe conditions for employees to return to work, as well as inspections after the storm has passed," the agency said in a statement Tuesday evening.

NASA added that a launch occurring during a two-hour window that opens at 1:04 am EST (0604 GMT) on November 16 would result in a splashdown on Friday, Dec. 11.

A back-up launch date has been set for November 19.

NASA said it would leave the giant SLS rocket on the launch pad, where it had been placed several days before.

After two launch attempts were scrubbed this summer because of technical problems, the rocket had to be returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building to protect it from Hurricane Ian.

Last week, the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket was rolled back out on a giant platform known as the crawler-transporter designed to minimize vibrations.

Earlier Tuesday, Nicole was packing sustained winds near 65 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) with higher gusts and was expected to strengthen even further, according to the NHC.

Some experts have voiced concern that the rocket, which is estimated to cost several billion dollars, could be damaged by debris from the hurricane if it remains exposed.

"As far as staying at the pad, we want to see peak winds less than 74.1 knots, and that's kind of the key requirement that we're tracking," said chief rocket engineer John Blevins.

The SLS rocket is designed to withstand 85 mile-per-hour (74.4-knot) winds at the 60-foot level with structural margin, NASA said. It is designed to also withstand heavy rains at the launch pad and the spacecraft hatches have been secured to prevent water intrusion.

The uncrewed mission, dubbed Artemis 1, will bring the United States a step closer to returning astronauts to the Moon five decades after humans last walked on the lunar surface.

The goal of Artemis 1, named after the twin sister of Apollo, is to test the SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule that sits on top.

Mannequins are standing in for astronauts on the mission and will record acceleration, vibration, and radiation levels.



Nagasaki Marks 80th A-Bomb Anniversary as Survivors Put Hopes of Nuke Ban in the Hands of Youth

 Doves are leased over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Doves are leased over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
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Nagasaki Marks 80th A-Bomb Anniversary as Survivors Put Hopes of Nuke Ban in the Hands of Youth

 Doves are leased over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Doves are leased over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the US atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb.

The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke, among other guests. At 11:02 a.m., the exact time when the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants observed a moment of silence as a bell rang.

Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack. He said the city’s memories of the bombing are “a common heritage and should be passed down for generations” in and outside Japan.

“The existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth,” Suzuki said. “In order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace.”

Praying for nuclear abolition and no war

Survivors and their families gathered Saturday in rainy weather at Peace Park and nearby Hypocenter Park, located below the bomb’s exact detonation spot, hours before the official ceremony.

“I simply seek a world without war," said Koichi Kawano, an 85-year-old survivor who laid flowers at the Hypocenter monument decorated with colorful paper cranes and other offerings.

Some others prayed at churches in Nagasaki, home to Catholic converts who went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution in Japan’s feudal era.

The twin bells at Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, also rang together again after one of the bells that had gone missing following the attack was restored by volunteers.

Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction.

Survivors put their hopes in younger hands

Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack is not distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future.

“There are only two things I long for: the abolition of nuclear weapons and prohibition of war,” survivor Fumi Takeshita said. “I only see a world where nuclear weapons are never used and everyone can live in peace.”

In hopes of passing on the lessons of history, Takeshita visits schools to share her experience with children.

“When you grow up and remember what you learned today, please think what each of you can do to prevent war,” Takeshita, 83, told students during a school visit earlier this week.

Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organization supporting survivors, said she feels the absence of those she has worked, which fuels her strong desire to document the lives of remaining survivors.

The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, about a quarter of the original number, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest of the survivors were too young to recall the attack clearly.

“We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story,” said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation.

Her organization has started to digitalize the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation.

“There are younger people who are beginning to take action,” Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. “So I think we don’t have to get depressed yet.”

Nagasaki hosted a “peace forum” on Friday where survivors shared their stories with more than 300 young people from around the country. Seiichiro Mise, a 90-year-old survivor, said he is handing seeds of “flowers of peace” to the younger generation in hopes of seeing them bloom.

Japan's security dilemma

Survivors are frustrated by a growing nuclear threat and support among international leaders for developing or possessing nuclear weapons for deterrence. They criticize the Japanese government’s refusal to sign or even participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because Japan, as an American ally, needs US nuclear possession as deterrence.

In Ishiba's speech, the prime minister reiterated Japan’s pursuit of a nuclear-free world and pledged to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries with nuclear weapons and non-nuclear states at the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons review conference scheduled for April and May 2026 in New York City. Ishiba, however, did not mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony Saturday. China notably notified the city it would not be present without providing a reason.

The ceremony last year stirred controversy due to the absence of the US ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city’s refusal to invite Israel.