Saturday marked the beginning of the countdown to Monday’s inaugural launch of NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket on a long-awaited mission to deliver an unmanned Orion crew capsule around the moon and back.
At 10:23 a.m. EDT, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA’s first female launch director, gathered her crew in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center and initiated the carefully rehearsed 46-hour, 10-minute countdown.
The 322-foot-tall Artemis 1 Space Launch System rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center is seen on the roof of the CBS News building on August 27, 2022 from a distance of 4.2 miles. Saturday morning’s countdown initiated a launch attempt at 8:33 a.m. EDT on August 29, 2022, the beginning of a two-hour window. William Harwood/CBS News
“At this point, we are not dealing with any major concerns,” she told reporters at a pre-flight press briefing. I am pleased to report that everything is proceeding according to plan.
Lightning struck one of the three protection towers surrounding the SLS rocket at launch pad 39B shortly after the briefing. The strike triggered an examination of data to ensure that no vital electrical systems had been compromised.
Monday at 12:18 a.m. EDT, engineers working remotely intend to begin putting 750,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel into the core stage of the massive SLS rocket, setting the stage for launch at 8:33 a.m., the opening of a two-hour window. Forecasters anticipate a 70% likelihood of favorable weather.
The 42-day unpiloted test flight of the $4.1 billion SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule is a critical milestone in NASA’s efforts to return astronauts to the lunar surface for long-term exploration and to test equipment and procedures required for eventual multi-year trips to Mars.
NASA is ready to undertake the most major series of research and human exploration missions in over a decade with the launch of Artemis 1 on Monday, according to Bhavya Lal, NASA’s assistant administrator for technology, policy, and strategy.
“We are ensuring that the agency’s architecture for human exploration is based on a long-term strategic objective, namely a persistent U.S. presence on the moon, Mars, and throughout the solar system.”
However, mission manager Mike Sarafin stressed, “This is an evaluation flight. We are cognizant of the fact that this is a planned stress test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket. It is a brand-new rocket and spaceship that will transport humans to the moon on the very next mission.
“This is something that has not been accomplished in over 50 years, and it is extraordinarily challenging. We will gain a wealth of knowledge from the Artemis 1 test flight… We recognize that there is a lot of enthusiasm surrounding this, but the crew is really focused.”
The condition of a 4-inch liquid hydrogen quick-disconnect fitting that leaked during a rehearsal countdown and fuelling test on June 20 remains uncertain.
After returning the rocket to NASA’s assembly building, the attachment was fixed. Hydrogen leaks normally do not manifest until the equipment is exposed to cryogenic temperatures — in this case, minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit — which won’t occur until Monday morning, when fueling will begin.
If a leak that violates safety regulations is detected, the launch will be aborted. However, Blackwell-Thompson expressed confidence that the fitting will function appropriately.
She stated in an interview, “You don’t really get the entire exam unless you perform it in cryogenic circumstances.” “Therefore, we believe we have done all possible to resolve this issue, and on launch day, as part of our loading, we will know for sure.”
Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is shown in a file photo in Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA/Kim Shiflett
The principal objectives of the Artemis 1 mission are to check the performance of the massive SLS rocket, test the Orion crew capsule, and return it safely to Earth, ensuring that the capsule’s 16.5-foot-wide heat shield can protect astronauts from the high-velocity heat of re-entry.
Moonikin Campos, an instrumented, spacesuit-clad mannequin, and two artificial female torsos will assist scientists in measuring the radiation environment of deep space, as well as vibrations, sound levels, accelerations, temperatures, and pressures in the crew compartment throughout the voyage.
NASA will proceed with plans to launch four real astronauts on a looping free-return trajectory around the moon in late 2024, followed by a mission to land two astronauts near the south pole of the moon as early as 2025, if the flight is successful.
This voyage will mostly depend on continuous financing from Congress, the construction of new spacesuits for the moonwalkers, and SpaceX’s progress creating a moon lander based on the concept of its unflown Starship rocket.
NASA administrators are enthusiastic, but the feasibility of the 2025 landing target is yet unknown.
“We’re working as if it is. We must, or else it will remain an unanswered question that we will never answer,” said astronaut Randy Bresnik, adding that SpaceX is also “moving towards that pace.”
Bresnik stated, “This gives us great hope that we have the proper partner for this first mission if we’re going to get there.” “The suits and the lunar lander Starship go hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other. Therefore, we’ll have more clarity in the coming months.”
Since 1984, Bill Harwood has covered the U.S. space program full-time, first as United Press International’s Cape Canaveral bureau chief and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary trip since Voyager 2’s encounter of Neptune, as well as a multitude of commercial and military launches. Harwood is a committed amateur astronomer based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”