Artemis I Moon Launch Attempt Set for Early Wednesday
NASA will try to get its enormous moon rocket off a launchpad for a third time early Wednesday morning after technical problems stymied earlier attempts.
The mission is a critical jumping-off point for Artemis, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s multiyear agency program to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 and set the stage for broader agency space-exploration efforts.
Artemis I, as this mission is called, is designed as an intense test of the vehicles that NASA is depending on, specifically the Space Launch System rocket that will blast the uncrewed Orion spacecraft toward the moon.
Boeing Co.
developed the SLS rocket, while
Lockheed Martin Corp.
is the lead company behind Orion.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said NASA had faced false starts with the 2011-retired space shuttle as well.
Photo:
Sarah Blesener for the Wall Street Journal
NASA plans to try to blast an SLS rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as 1:04 a.m. ET Wednesday, when a two-hour window opens.
The SLS rocket, the most powerful the agency has ever developed, is designed to propel Orion toward an orbit around the moon before that vehicle returns to Earth.
Liftoff in the early morning hours Wednesday would result in a roughly 26-day mission assuming all goes as planned, with the Orion astronaut module splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego around Dec. 12, NASA officials said Sunday.
Staff working on the launch faced glitches during the fueling process in the two prior attempts. Engineers had to carry out repairs after the second canceled launch and conduct another practice run of the fuel-up to demonstrate they could pull off that procedure.
Agency officials have defended their decisions to halt the previous would-be launches, saying engineers are still learning how to handle the rocket, which has been in the making for more than a decade.
Interactive: An Inside Look at the SLS Rocket
Bill Nelson,
the agency’s administrator, said NASA also faced false starts with the space shuttle, a craft it last operated in 2011.
“At the end of the day, if it’s successful, you don’t remember all the scrubs,” he said in a recent interview.
NASA’s inspector general has estimated that the Artemis I flight, and three subsequent missions, would cost the agency $4.1 billion each in production and operational expense. Officials at the agency have said they are taking steps to reduce costs.
While the agency tries to ignite the SLS rocket for its first flight, some space companies are developing their own large rockets.
Elon Musk
‘s SpaceX, as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is called, has been pushing to launch its Starship rocket for that vehicle’s inaugural orbital test flight. NASA plans to use a version of Starship as part of the Artemis effort about two years from now.
Jeff Bezos
‘ Blue Origin LLC is working on a vehicle called New Glenn, which has yet to fly.
In late August, NASA decided not to try to blast off the SLS rocket after engineers had to deal with a hydrogen leak that emerged during fueling and a sensor fed teams faulty data during an engine-cooling procedure.
On Sept. 3, NASA tried again to fuel it up for a potential flight, but a larger hydrogen leak forced it to cancel another attempt to try to ignite the towering rocket.
The main part of the rocket includes large holding tanks for super-cold liquid oxygen and hydrogen, the propellants that power the vehicle. NASA has decades of experience using hydrogen as a fuel, but the agency has faced repeated difficulties transferring it into the SLS rocket’s tank because of its properties.
After facing problems with the hydrogen fuel, NASA engineers practiced loading the propellants in September, refining their technique.
NASA has also had to navigate stretches of difficult weather that potentially could have damaged the rocket or Orion.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be watching NASA’s moon rocket launch this Wednesday? Join the conversation below.
After the second scrubbed attempt, the agency decided to roll the SLS rocket back to a storage facility at the Kennedy site to avoid potential damage from Hurricane Ian.
The vehicle was then rolled back to the launchpad in early November, ahead of a potential launch on Nov. 14. The agency called off a flight on that date because of Hurricane Nicole but decided to leave the towering rocket on a pad to ride out the storm.
NASA officials said Monday that engineers investigated caulk material on part of Orion that the storm blew off, but the issue wasn’t significant enough to halt preparations for a launch Wednesday.
The agency plans to use another SLS rocket to blast an Orion ship with humans in its crew capsule toward lunar orbit in 2024, according to a recent agency presentation.
The scene at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday as news media wait for Wednesday’s launch.
Photo:
Eva Marie Uzcategui for The Wall Street Journal
The following year, the agency would aim to deliver Orion with astronauts on board to a moon orbit where the vehicle would rendezvous with SpaceX’s Starship lander. The lander would then take two astronauts to the lunar surface and back up to orbit from the moon, according to NASA plans.
Jim Free,
associate administrator for the division at NASA focused on exploration systems, said the agency wants to get to a consistent pace for operating and completing Artemis missions. At an industry conference last month, he said the agency learned a lot flying the space shuttle as much as it did.
He said: “For me, it’s building those muscles back up and staying on top of missions.”
Write to Micah Maidenberg at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
NASA will try to get its enormous moon rocket off a launchpad for a third time early Wednesday morning after technical problems stymied earlier attempts.
The mission is a critical jumping-off point for Artemis, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s multiyear agency program to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 and set the stage for broader agency space-exploration efforts.
Artemis I, as this mission is called, is designed as an intense test of the vehicles that NASA is depending on, specifically the Space Launch System rocket that will blast the uncrewed Orion spacecraft toward the moon.
Boeing Co.
developed the SLS rocket, while
Lockheed Martin Corp.
is the lead company behind Orion.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said NASA had faced false starts with the 2011-retired space shuttle as well.
Photo:
Sarah Blesener for the Wall Street Journal
NASA plans to try to blast an SLS rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as 1:04 a.m. ET Wednesday, when a two-hour window opens.
The SLS rocket, the most powerful the agency has ever developed, is designed to propel Orion toward an orbit around the moon before that vehicle returns to Earth.
Liftoff in the early morning hours Wednesday would result in a roughly 26-day mission assuming all goes as planned, with the Orion astronaut module splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego around Dec. 12, NASA officials said Sunday.
Staff working on the launch faced glitches during the fueling process in the two prior attempts. Engineers had to carry out repairs after the second canceled launch and conduct another practice run of the fuel-up to demonstrate they could pull off that procedure.
Agency officials have defended their decisions to halt the previous would-be launches, saying engineers are still learning how to handle the rocket, which has been in the making for more than a decade.
Interactive: An Inside Look at the SLS Rocket
Bill Nelson,
the agency’s administrator, said NASA also faced false starts with the space shuttle, a craft it last operated in 2011.
“At the end of the day, if it’s successful, you don’t remember all the scrubs,” he said in a recent interview.
NASA’s inspector general has estimated that the Artemis I flight, and three subsequent missions, would cost the agency $4.1 billion each in production and operational expense. Officials at the agency have said they are taking steps to reduce costs.
While the agency tries to ignite the SLS rocket for its first flight, some space companies are developing their own large rockets.
Elon Musk
‘s SpaceX, as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is called, has been pushing to launch its Starship rocket for that vehicle’s inaugural orbital test flight. NASA plans to use a version of Starship as part of the Artemis effort about two years from now.
Jeff Bezos
‘ Blue Origin LLC is working on a vehicle called New Glenn, which has yet to fly.
In late August, NASA decided not to try to blast off the SLS rocket after engineers had to deal with a hydrogen leak that emerged during fueling and a sensor fed teams faulty data during an engine-cooling procedure.
On Sept. 3, NASA tried again to fuel it up for a potential flight, but a larger hydrogen leak forced it to cancel another attempt to try to ignite the towering rocket.
The main part of the rocket includes large holding tanks for super-cold liquid oxygen and hydrogen, the propellants that power the vehicle. NASA has decades of experience using hydrogen as a fuel, but the agency has faced repeated difficulties transferring it into the SLS rocket’s tank because of its properties.
After facing problems with the hydrogen fuel, NASA engineers practiced loading the propellants in September, refining their technique.
NASA has also had to navigate stretches of difficult weather that potentially could have damaged the rocket or Orion.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be watching NASA’s moon rocket launch this Wednesday? Join the conversation below.
After the second scrubbed attempt, the agency decided to roll the SLS rocket back to a storage facility at the Kennedy site to avoid potential damage from Hurricane Ian.
The vehicle was then rolled back to the launchpad in early November, ahead of a potential launch on Nov. 14. The agency called off a flight on that date because of Hurricane Nicole but decided to leave the towering rocket on a pad to ride out the storm.
NASA officials said Monday that engineers investigated caulk material on part of Orion that the storm blew off, but the issue wasn’t significant enough to halt preparations for a launch Wednesday.
The agency plans to use another SLS rocket to blast an Orion ship with humans in its crew capsule toward lunar orbit in 2024, according to a recent agency presentation.
The scene at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday as news media wait for Wednesday’s launch.
Photo:
Eva Marie Uzcategui for The Wall Street Journal
The following year, the agency would aim to deliver Orion with astronauts on board to a moon orbit where the vehicle would rendezvous with SpaceX’s Starship lander. The lander would then take two astronauts to the lunar surface and back up to orbit from the moon, according to NASA plans.
Jim Free,
associate administrator for the division at NASA focused on exploration systems, said the agency wants to get to a consistent pace for operating and completing Artemis missions. At an industry conference last month, he said the agency learned a lot flying the space shuttle as much as it did.
He said: “For me, it’s building those muscles back up and staying on top of missions.”
Write to Micah Maidenberg at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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