The Space Launch System’s next launch delayed due to Hurricane Ian: a chance of Artemis I at the Lunar Observatory in November?
The long-awaited launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket has been moved back to November after NASA canceled the plan to launch on September 27th due to Hurricane Ian. The next Artemis I launch is expected to take place between November 12th and November 27th.
There was a chance of the next NASA attempt taking place in October but NASA decided not to go ahead after they found out that the rocket was going to be damaged in the storm. NASA successfully secured the rocket on Tuesday after an hours-long trek to the VAB.
Jim Free said the Artemis team feels confident about moving ahead with their planned launch despite a possible storm heading toward Florida.
Artemis I is believed to be the first step to other missions to the moon. The capsule that is supposed to carry astronauts when it reaches space after takeoff will separate as it leaves the rocket after liftoff. There are a couple of mannequins, but it will be empty for this mission. The Orion capsule will spend a few days maneuvering out to the moon before entering its orbit and beginning the trek back home days later.
Getting the First Launch of the SLS Rocket to the Naval Astronomical Mission (AVMS): Issues and Future Planned Action
Subsequent testing of the rocket’s fueling system showed that the leak was still present, but at a more “manageable” level. Now that the rocket’s back at the VAB, NASA says it will “prepare for additional inspections” and retest the Flight Termination System, which the Space Force uses to destroy the rocket if it goes off course.
NASA is preparing for a second attempt to get the Artemis I mission off the ground, as the hulking rocket that will be at the heart of their plans is headed back to the launchpad Friday.
Liftoff of the uncrewed test mission is slated for November 14, with a 69-minute launch window that opens at 12:07 a.m. ET. The launch will stream live on NASA’s website.
The SLS rocket started the hours-long trek from its indoor shelter to Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Thursday evening.
Mark Burger, a meteorology officer with the US Air Force, said there was a chance of a storm forming in Puerto Rico on the weekend and moving northwest next week.
Burger said that the National Hurricane Center has a 30% chance of it being a named storm. There are several models that are very consistent on low pressure development.
Returning the 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) SLS rocket to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, gave engineers a chance to take a deeper look at issues that have been plaguing the rocket and to perform maintenance.
NASA was racing against time to get Artemis I off the ground because of the risk of batteries draining if it spent too long on the launch pad without liftoff. Engineers were able to recharge or replace batteries throughout the rocket and the Orion spacecraft atop it as they sat in the VAB.
But getting this first mission off the ground has been trying. The $4 billion SLS rocket ran into problems as it was carrying super-chilled liquid hydrogen, which caused a series of leaks. A faulty sensor gave inaccurate readings when a rocket was attempting to cool its engines down so that they wouldn’t experience the temperatures of its fuel.
NASA has worked to troubleshoot both issues. The team decided to mask the sensor, ignoring the data it puts out. The space agency ran a ground test when the rocket was still on the launchpad after the second launch attempt.
The purpose is to test the seals and the methods of loading the supercold propellant, which is what the rocket would experience on launch day. NASA said that the test met all objectives, despite it not going as planned.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/04/world/artemis-sls-rollout-scn/index.html
The SLS and Artemis Shuttle Program: Space Missions, Embedded Systems, and the Mission to Lyman-Born-Infeld
The shuttle program was scrubbed for frequent launches prior to the SLS. The Falcon rockets have had problems with mechanical or technical issues before.
“I do want to reflect on the fact that this is a challenging mission,” Free said. “We’ve seen challenges just getting all our systems to work together and that’s why we do a flight test. Things that are not modeled are going to be pursued. And we’re learning by taking more risk on this mission before we put crew on there.”
The journey is to gather data and test out the hardware, navigation and other systems to make sure that the SLS rocket and the new Orion capsule are ready to host astronauts. The Artemis program is attempting to land a woman and a person of color on the moon.
The Artemis II mission, slated for 2024, is expected to follow a similar flight path around the moon but will have crew on board. And in 2025, Artemis III is expected to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo program.