NASA to begin third attempt at crucial moon mission test on Saturday

A third attempt at a crucial prelaunch test for NASA's Artemis I mission to the moon will begin on Saturday, after the two previous tries were called off, the agency said in a news release.

Posted 3:11 p.m. Apr 8, 2022 — Updated 6:06 p.m. Apr 8, 2022

Madeline Holcombe

, CNN

CNN — A third attempt at a crucial prelaunch test for NASA's Artemis I mission to the moon will begin on Saturday, after the two previous tries were called off, the agency said in a news release.

The wet dress rehearsal, which simulates every stage of launch without the rocket actually leaving the launchpad, will begin at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday and is expected to go until 2:40 p.m. ET Monday, according to the release.

This weekend's rehearsal is an important step in the first phase of NASA's Artemis program, which is expected to return humans to the moon and land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface by 2025.

Artemis mission teams had to stop the two previous wet dress rehearsal attempts before completion after running into issues. NASA scientists have been troubleshooting and will continue to investigate during this weekend's attempt.

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