NASA Leadership Team the The Artemis Program of the Moon Missions really want to continue with their first flight — scheduled for tomorrow morning. But with a strengthening Hurricane Ian headed for the Florida launch pad, it’s time to move the massive Space Launch System rocket to safety.
The space agency will return the rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building to wait for another launch opportunity — but that could mean a delay of several weeks. The team has yet to commit to a date for a new effort, although a fallback window that was once planned for October 2 now appears to be over. Tiffany Fairley, NASA spokeswoman at the Kennedy Space Center, wrote in an email to WIRED: “Determination to return to the launch pad will be made after the storm passes and teams conduct post-hurricane inspections. .
After a series of delays this summer, the Artemis team hopes to finally launch unexploded moon rocket from Kennedy in eastern Florida. But worries have arisen about wind damage to spacecraft and risks to staff at the space center. Over the weekend, NASA weather officials mapped the orbit of Ian, which at the time was a tropical cyclone that appeared to be strengthening and preparing to make landfall in Florida on launch day. Mike Folger, program manager for Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy, said the rocket can only withstand sustained winds of up to 74 knots while on the launch pad, during a press conference on September 23. If those weather forecasts are correct, the storm will soon become a hurricane and winds exceeding that speed will make landfall on Florida’s Space Coast.
NASA had to take into account weather criteria not only to launch the rocket but also to get it to the shelter, according to a post on NASA’s Artemis Blog. Since the trip lasted up to 12 hours and the rocket could only reach a top speed of 40 knots while on the track that took it to and from the assembly building, the Artemis team had to call Monday morning. to cover SLS. on Tuesday night.
This will be NASA’s third test launch. First try on August 29 was scanned due to a liquid hydrogen leak detected with the third RS-25 engine. (The rocket weathered a smaller storm afterward, with lightning towers hitting nearby, but not the rocket itself.) September 3rd is also shortened due to a hydrogen leak – this time it’s bigger. (Similar problems were also detected in April and in June when the team performed “wet-suit drills” tests on refueling and countdown procedures.)
SLS uses liquid hydrogen that is supercooled down to -423 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a lightweight, efficient, and powerful rocket launcher, but it comes with its own set of challenges. “Cryogenics is a very difficult propellant to handle,” said Brad McCain, vice president of Jacobs Space Operations Group, principal contractor for NASA’s Exploration Ground System, at a press conference on September 23. He notes that leaks of liquid hydrogen are frequent. in 135 space shuttle launches. With SLS, he said, a “gentle, kinder loading approach” that uses less pressure to push the propellant through the paths to the core-stage rocket, worked in a test. tank test on September 21.
