() — The massive rocket at the center of NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon arrived at the launch pad Friday morning, as the space agency prepares for another attempt to get the mission off the ground. Artemis I.
Liftoff for the uncrewed test mission is scheduled for November 14, with a 69-minute launch window opening at 12:07 am Miami time. The launch will be broadcast live on NASA’s website.
The Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket began the hours-long 4-mile journey from its inner shelter to Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the late afternoon. this Thursday. He reached his destination almost 9 hours later.
The rocket had been in storage for weeks after fuel-leak problems thwarted the first two launch attempts and a hurricane that swept through Florida, forcing the launch pad to be evacuated and stored in a safe place.
The Artemis team is again monitoring a tropical cyclone that could be headed toward Florida, but officials feel confident they can go ahead with the launch, according to Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at the POT.
The so far unnamed cyclone could develop near Puerto Rico over the weekend and move slowly northwest early next week, said Meteorologist Mark Burger, the U.S. Air Force’s launch weather official. USA at Cape Canaveral.
“The National Hurricane Center only gives it a 30% chance of becoming a named tropical cyclone,” Burger said. “However, having said that, the models are very consistent in developing some kind of low pressure.”
Forecasters don’t expect it to become a strong system, but will monitor possible impacts through the middle of next week, he said.
The return of the 98-meter-tall SLS rocket to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) gave engineers the opportunity to thoroughly examine the problems that have been plaguing the rocket and to conduct maintenance tasks.
In September, NASA raced against the clock to get Artemis I off the ground because there was a risk that mission-critical batteries would run out if it spent too long on the launch pad without taking off. Engineers were able to recharge or replace batteries on the entire rocket and the Orion spacecraft above it while at VAB.
The overall goal of NASA’s Artemis program is to return humans to the Moon for the first time in half a century. And the Artemis I mission, expected to be the first of many, will lay the groundwork, testing the rocket and spacecraft and all their subsystems to ensure they are safe enough for astronauts to fly to the Moon and back.
But getting this first mission airborne has been tricky. The SLS rocket, which cost about $4 billion, had trouble loading with supercold liquid hydrogen, leading to a series of leaks. A faulty sensor also gave inaccurate readings when the rocket tried to “condition” its engines, a process that cools the engines so they are not affected by the temperatures of their supercold fuel.
NASA has worked to fix both problems. The Artemis team decided to mask the faulty sensor, essentially ignoring the data it outputs. And after the second launch attempt in September, the space agency conducted another ground test while the rocket was still on the launch pad.
The purpose of the cryogenic demonstration was to test the seals and use updated “kinder and gentler” charging procedures for the supercold propellant, which is what the rocket would experience on launch day.
Although the test did not go exactly as planned, NASA said it met all of its goals.
NASA officials again stressed that these delays and technical problems do not necessarily point to a significant problem with the rocket.
Prior to SLS, NASA’s space shuttle program, which flew for 30 years, faced frequent launch disruptions. SpaceX’s Falcon rockets also have a history of shutdowns due to mechanical or technical problems.
“I want to reflect on the fact that this is a difficult mission,” Free said. “We’ve seen that the challenges are getting all of our systems to work together, and so we do a flight test. It’s about going after things that can’t be modeled. And we’re learning by taking more risks on this mission before get the crew there.”
The Artemis I mission is expected to pave the way for other missions to the Moon. After liftoff, the Orion capsule, designed to carry astronauts and which sits atop the rocket during liftoff, will separate upon reaching space. For this mission it will fly empty, not counting a couple of mannequins The Orion capsule will spend a few days maneuvering toward the Moon before entering its orbit and beginning the journey home days later.
In total, the mission is expected to last 25 days, with the Orion capsule landing in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on Dec. 9.
The goal of the trip is to collect data and test the hardware, navigation and other systems to ensure that both the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule are ready to welcome astronauts. The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface this decade.
The Artemis II mission, scheduled for 2024, will follow a similar flight path around the Moon, but with a crew on board. And in 2025, Artemis III is expected to land with astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo program.
— Kristin Fisher contributed to this report.
