Using a slower, so-called “softer” fueling process to minimize pressure spikes that contributed to previous leaks, the launch team began loading 730,000 gallons of supercooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel for the SLS core stage at 3:55 a.m. p.m. EST. The Space Launch System rocket, ready for launch from pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA Engineers were optimistic that the new procedures would ensure a smooth transition from crude to “quick fill,” the point during previous refueling attempts when a sudden increase in pressure caused quick-disconnect umbilical seals at the base of the core to leak. rocket. “We’re more confident than ever about loading procedures and how to do it in a way that puts the least amount of stress on the seals,” said Jeremy Parsons, associate director of Exploration Ground Systems at the Kennedy Space Center. . This time, the rocket’s tanks were filled without incident. But late in the countdown, a valve used to replenish hydrogen in the core stage developed an intermittent leak. A three-man “red crew” was sent to the pad to tighten the bolts around the valve in an effort to minimize the leak and keep the countdown on track. Another problem that developed late: trouble relaying data from a Space Force Eastern Range tracking radar. Engineers attempted to replace an ethernet switch before the SLS rocket’s two-hour launch window, which closes at 3:04 a.m., opens. EST. Both issues were resolved, but mission managers had to order a delay while the team made up for lost time. The final 10 minutes of the countdown were expected to culminate with the ignition of four hydrogen-fueled main engines, followed seconds later by the ignition of two upgraded shuttle-heritage solid-fuel boosters. Artemis: America’s New Moonshot | CBS Reports 9:51 p.m At that moment, computer commands will be sent to detonate four massive explosive bolts at the base of each booster, releasing the 5.7 million pound SLS to climb atop its 8.8 million pounds of thrust, briefly turning night into day as it roars skyward in a slightly northeasterly trajectory. Accelerating rapidly as it consumes propellant and loses weight, the SLS was expected to travel faster than sound less than a minute after liftoff. A minute after that, the two belt boosters were expected to burn up and fall away leaving the four engines powering the main stage to continue the ascent into space. Eight minutes after liftoff, the flight plan called for the SLS second stage and the attached Orion capsule to separate from the core stage in an initial elliptical orbit inclined 34 degrees to the equator. The center stage, meanwhile, will be allowed to fall back into the atmosphere to break up in an uninhabited part of the Indian Ocean. Two critical “burns” were required by the single engine powering the Intermediate Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS: one to raise the low point of the initial orbit, and a second to propel Orion out of Earth’s gravitational clutch and toward the moon. The 18-minute long interlunar injection, or TLI, was expected about 90 minutes after launch. The Orion capsule was expected to separate from ICPS about two hours after launch, traveling to the moon for a 60-mile flight by Monday, using lunar gravity to launch it into a distant orbit that will take it farther from Earth than any other. human rated spacecraft. The Artemis 1 mission is the first in a series of SLS/Orion flights intended to establish a permanent presence on and around the moon with a lunar space station called Gateway and periodic landings near the south pole where ice deposits can be accessed in the cold, permanently shadowed craters. Future astronauts may be able to “mine” this ice, if it is present and accessible, turning it into air, water, and even rocket fuel to greatly reduce the cost of space exploration. More generally, Artemis astronauts will conduct extensive exploration and research to learn more about the origin and evolution of the Moon and to test the hardware and processes they will need before sending astronauts to Mars. Oxygen and hydrogen fuel lines enter the Space Launch System rocket’s main stage through retractable umbilicals that extend from protective sheaths known as tail service webs (left). Leaking seals in the quick-disconnect fittings where the umbilicals attach to the core stage caused multiple delays during the missile’s testing. Engineers were optimistic that revised fueling procedures would prevent problematic leaks during Wednesday’s fueling. NASA The goal of the Artemis 1 mission is to put the Orion spacecraft through its paces, testing solar power, propulsion, navigation and life support systems before returning to Earth on Dec. 11 and a 25,000 mph plunge back into the atmosphere that it will put up a protective heat shield at a hellish 5,000 degrees. Testing the heat shield and confirming that it can protect astronauts returning from deep space is the No. 1 priority of the Artemis 1 mission. If all goes well with Artemis 1, NASA plans to launch a second SLS rocket in late 2024 to boost four astronauts into free-return orbit around the moon before landing the first woman and next man on the lunar surface near the southern polo in the Artemis 3 mission. That flight, targeted for launch in 2025-2026, depends on the readiness of new spacesuits for NASA’s spacewalkers and a lander built by SpaceX based on the design of the company’s reusable Starship rocket. SpaceX is working on the lander under a $2.9 billion contract with NASA, but the company has provided few details or updates, and it’s not yet known when NASA and the California rocket maker will actually be ready for the Artemis landing mission. 3. But if the Artemis 1 test flight is successful, NASA may check its requirement for a super-heavy lift rocket to launch initial missions from the ground to the Moon. More William Harwood Bill Harwood has covered the US space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. It covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2’s flyby to Neptune, and dozens of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a dedicated amateur astronomer and co-author of “Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.”
