After two launch attempts and two hurricanes hitting the Space Coast, NASA is once again trying to get its giant moon rocket off the ground. Artemis I, the first mission at NASA Artemis program that will return astronauts to the Moon, is scheduled to lift off Wednesday at 1:04 a.m. ET, with a two-hour launch window. You can watch the kick-off here at 12:30am The Space Launch System is the most powerful space shuttle rocket ever built. On top of it is the Orion spacecraft, which will one day carry astronauts to and from the moon. The last time humans were on the moon was in December 1972. This is an uncrewed mission, with the only passengers being three mannequins on board who are part of a few experiments, including testing a vest that will protect astronauts from deadly space radiation. Artemis II, due to launch in 2024, will carry four astronauts – including a Canadian – to orbit the moon and return to Earth. Artemis III, due to launch in 2025, will see humans once again on the surface of the moon. But trying to launch the Artemis mission was a big challenge for NASA. Initially, the missile was supposed to be launched on August 29. the space agency faced many problems that day, including a delay in loading the rocket’s propellant due to stormy weather. At that time the two types of propellants – liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen – were not loaded at acceptable rates. Eventually, one of the four rocket engines failed to cool as expected, and eventually the crews ran out of time in the launch window and were forced to scrub the launch. A second launch attempt on September 3 was also cleared due to fuel loading issues and hydrogen leakage. Then came the hurricanes. First, it was Hurricane Ian that forced NASA to roll the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The hurricane did falling from the Gulf of Mexico on September 28 as a category 4; storm and, although it did not cause extensive damage to the Kennedy Space Center, the space agency wanted to inspect the pad and give its workers time to take care of themselves, which further delayed the launch. Then there was Hurricane Nicole, which made landfall on Nov. 10 just south of the Kennedy Space Center as a Category 1 storm. NASA had turned the rocket back to the launch pad on Nov. 4 for a Nov. 14 launch. By the time Nicole had deployed, however, it was too late to roll the 32-story rocket back to the safety of the assembly building, so the rocket remained on the pad during the storm and the launch date was moved to November 16. The rocket experienced some problems from being left in the storm. One was some tearing of some of the thin caulk that surrounds the Orion, which essentially fills the gaps in the thicker insulation and prevents air circulation or heating. There was concern that if more of them detached during launch, it could damage the rocket, potentially catastrophically. This image shows a close-up of the area where the caulk in a seam between the Orion launch abort system and the crew module adapter was detached during Hurricane Nicole. (NASA) Another concern was the tail service umbilical cord. This 10-meter-tall structure is located near the bottom of the rocket and consists of several lines that supply propellant and electricity to the rocket’s core stage. Engineers were receiving “inconsistent” dataeven though they had replaced one of the links earlier. Ground crew can be seen at the base of NASA’s massive Space Launch Rocket System, inspecting the tail service umbilical mast, left. In a media conference call on Sunday, Mike Sarafin, mission director for Artemis, said the region was “in trouble” after Hurricane Nicole hit Florida last week. (Don Hlandyuk) Despite those issues, in a media conference Monday afternoon, mission managers said they were confident they could still fly. “There is no change to our plan to launch on the 16th,” Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said. “In terms of the two issues we’ve looked at … I’d say we’re comfortable flying as is.” The rationale is that, for umbilical tissue, there are redundant systems. As for the caulking, they have looked at it and believe it will not break again, and even if it did, there would be little chance of it being a catastrophic risk to the missile. Sarafin noted that the same caulk was used in flight for the initial test flight of the Orion spacecraft, and they saw no problem with it coming off. When it comes to the possibility of another leak during the propellant payload, Jeremy Parsons, associate program manager for exploration ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center, said they are not worried about experiencing past problems. “We are more confident than ever in our loading procedures,” he said. The hourly pool will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. If the rocket launches on Wednesday, Orion will have a 26-day mission to test multiple systems, including most importantly, a new heat shield designed to protect astronauts from the heat as they re-enter the atmosphere at nearly 40,000 km /h. This graphic shows the mission schedule for the uncrewed Artemis I mission. (NASA) Overall, the feeling is positive on the space agency that it is ready to overcome any other challenges that may develop along the way. Parsons noted that the entire team has gone through a lot trying to get Artemis to launch. Sarafin agreed. “Our time is coming and hopefully it will be Wednesday,” Sarafin said. “But if Wednesday isn’t the right day, we’ll take the next hurdle, the next test and stick with it.”
