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The massive rocket at the heart of NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon arrived at the launch site Friday morning, as the space agency prepares for another attempt to lift off the Artemis I mission.
Liftoff of the uncrewed test mission is scheduled for Nov. 14, with a 69-minute launch window opening at 12:07 a.m. ET. The launch will be streamed live on NASA’s website.
The Space Launch System rocket, or SLS, began the hours-long 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) trek from its inner shelter on Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Thursday night. It reached its destination almost 9 hours later.
The rocket had been stored for weeks after problems with fuel leaks prevented the first two launch attempts, and then a hurricane swept through Florida, forcing the rocket to evacuate the launch site and head for safety.
The Artemis team is again tracking a storm that could be heading toward Florida, but officials felt confident going ahead with the deployment, according to Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
The unnamed storm could develop near Puerto Rico over the weekend and slowly move northwest early next week, said meteorologist Mark Burger, the U.S. Air Force’s launch meteorology officer at Cape Canaveral.
“The National Hurricane Center has just a 30 percent chance of becoming a named storm,” Burger said. “However, having said that, the models are very consistent in the development of some kind of low pressure.”
Forecasters do not expect it to become a strong system, but will monitor potential impacts into the middle of next week, he said.
Returning the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) SLS rocket to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, gave engineers a chance to take a deeper look at issues plaguing the rocket and perform maintenance.
In September, NASA raced against the clock to get Artemis I off the ground because there was a risk that the batteries necessary for the mission would run out if it spent too long at the launch site without taking off. Engineers were able to recharge or replace batteries throughout the rocket and the Orion spacecraft on top of it while sitting in the VAB.
The overall goal of NASA’s Artemis program is to return humans to the moon for the first time in half a century. And the Artemis I mission — expected to be the first of many — will lay the groundwork, testing the rocket and spacecraft and all their subsystems to ensure they’re safe enough for astronauts to fly to the Moon and back.
But getting that first mission off the ground was trying. The SLS rocket, which cost around $4 billion, ran into problems as it was loaded with super-cold liquid hydrogen, causing a series of leaks. A faulty sensor also gave inaccurate readings as the rocket tried to “regulate” its engines, a process that cools the engines so they are not shocked by the temperatures of its super-cold fuel.
NASA has worked to address both problems. The Artemis team decided to cover up the faulty sensor, essentially ignoring the data it outputs. And after the second launch attempt in September, the space agency conducted another ground test while the rocket was still at the launch site.
The purpose of the cryogenic demonstration was to test the seals and use updated procedures for “kinder and gentler” loading of the supercooled propellant, which the rocket would have on launch day. Although the test didn’t go exactly as planned, NASA said it achieved all of its goals.
NASA officials again stressed that these delays and technical issues do not necessarily indicate a major problem with the rocket.
Before SLS, NASA’s space shuttle program, which had been flying for 30 years, endured frequent launches. SpaceX’s Falcon rockets also have a history of being cleaned up for mechanical or technical issues.
“I want to think about the fact that this is a challenging mission,” Free said. “We saw challenges in just getting all our systems to work together, and that’s why we’re doing a flight test. It has to do with the things that cannot be shaped. And we’re learning by taking more risk on this mission before we put a crew there.”
The Artemis I mission is expected to pave the way for other missions to the moon. After liftoff, the Orion capsule, which is designed to carry astronauts and sits atop the rocket during liftoff, will separate as it reaches space. It will fly empty for this mission, except for a few mannequins. The Orion capsule will spend a few days maneuvering around the moon before entering orbit and starting its journey home days later.
In total, the mission is expected to last 25 days, with the launch of the Orion capsule into the Pacific Ocean off San Diego scheduled for Dec. 9.
The purpose of the trip is to collect data and test hardware, navigation and other systems to ensure that both the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule are ready to host astronauts. The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface this decade.
The Artemis II mission, scheduled for 2024, is expected to follow a similar flight path around the Moon, but will have a crew. And in 2025, Artemis III is expected to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo program.
