After months of testing, troubleshooting, and repairs, NASA encountered issues during the fueling of the Space Launch System moon rocket early on Monday morning, preventing the launch of its Artemis 1 test flight — a crucial mission to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule on a 42-day mission beyond and back to the moon.
Initially, the launch was scheduled for 8:33 a.m. EDT, the beginning of a two-hour window. If the difficulties are rectified by Friday, September 2, at 12:48 p.m. EDT, the next launch opportunity will occur then.
Today’s launch of #Artemis I has been canceled due to a problem with the engine’s bleed valve. Teams will continue to collect data, and we will keep you updated on the next launch attempt’s schedule. https://t.co/tQ0lp6Ruhv #u6Uiim2mom #twitter
— NASA (@NASA) August 29, 2022
Just after midnight, rain and lightning approached within five nautical miles of launch pad 39B, causing Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson to postpone fuel loading by 55 minutes. At 1:13 a.m. EDT, the six-hour surgery finally got began.
Then, a hydrogen leak was discovered during the refueling process. One of the channels transmitting commands and telemetry to the Orion spacecraft experienced a brief communications hiccup during the closing hours of the countdown, which necessitated debugging to determine the cause. On the exterior of the rocket’s core stage, a potential indicator of a leak of some kind, a breach in the thermal insulation, or another issue was observed.
The Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B on Monday, August 29, 2022, awaiting launch on a mission to deliver an uncrewed Orion capsule on a 42-day shakedown voyage beyond and back to the moon. NASA
The meticulously choreographed fueling technique is necessary to put 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 537,000 liters of hydrogen into the massive core stage of the rocket. The top stage requires a further 22,000 gallons of oxygen and hydrogen, for a total of 750,000 gallons of propellant.
When the launch occurs, it will be a spectacular sight. Four shuttle-era engines and two extended strap-on solid fuel boosters will create 8.8 million pounds of thrust to launch the 5.7-million-pound rocket from pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.
The rocket’s component of the Artemis 1 mission will last only one hour and thirty-six minutes, launching the Orion capsule and its European Space Agency-supplied Orion service module into space, out of Earth orbit, and onto a lunar trajectory.
Orion will return to a distant orbit around the moon for two weeks of testing and inspection following a 60-mile-high flyby.
If all goes well, the capsule will return to the moon on October 3 for another close flyby, which will be followed by a rapid descent back to Earth and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on October 10.
Rollout to pad 39B of the SLS rocket, the most powerful ever constructed by NASA. NASA
Following the Artemis 1 mission, NASA intends to deploy four people on a looping around-the-moon voyage in 2024, paving the way for the first human landing in nearly 50 years near the south pole. In the period between 2025 and 2026, the first woman and the next man could land on the moon.
Future astronauts may be able to “mine” ice deposits in lunar craters near the pole, assuming they exist and are accessible, and convert it into oxygen, water, and even rocket fuel to drastically cut the cost of deep space exploration.
In a broader sense, Artemis astronauts will conduct extensive exploration and study to understand more about the moon’s genesis and evolution and to test the necessary equipment and processes prior to sending people to Mars.
But first, NASA must demonstrate that the rocket and capsule will function as intended, beginning with the Artemis 1 launch.
The objective of the Artemis 1 mission is to put the Orion spacecraft through its paces, testing its solar power, propulsion, navigation, and life support systems prior to its return to Earth on October 10 and a 25,000-mph re-entry into the atmosphere that will expose its protective heat shield to a hellish 5,000 degrees.
Artemis 1’s top priority is to test the heat shield and establish that it can protect astronauts returning from deep space.
A depiction of the Orion spacecraft flying past the moon. NASA