Concerns about a weather system forming in the Caribbean put weather conditions only 20% favorable for a launch. The current track of the tropical depression puts the storm on track to affect Cuba and Florida early next week. Given the uncertainty in the storm’s track, intensity and arrival time, the Artemis team will use the latest data to inform its decision, said Mike Bolger, director of NASA’s Ground Systems Exploration Program. The Artemis team is closely monitoring the weather and will make a decision on Saturday. “Deep tropical moisture will pour across the Spaceport on Tuesday, with widespread cloud cover and scattered showers possible during the launch window,” according to a forecast released by the US Space Force on Friday. Launch constraints require the Artemis I mission not to fly through precipitation. The launch restrictions are designed to avoid natural and rocket-triggered lightning strikes on rockets in flight, which could damage the rocket and endanger public safety, according to the Space Force. Rocket-triggered lightning is formed when a large rocket flies through a strong enough atmospheric electric field, so a cloud that doesn’t produce natural lightning could trigger rocket-triggered lightning, according to the Space Force. If the rocket stack needs to be repositioned in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, the process could take several days. The rocket stack can stay on the pad and withstand winds of up to 85 mph (74.1 knots). If the stack needs to roll back into the building, it can handle sustained winds of less than 46 miles per hour (40 knots), Bolger said.
Evaluation of critical data
Meanwhile, the Artemis team is encouraged after “a really successful tank test” and “the rocket looks good for upcoming launch attempts,” said John Blevins, SLS chief engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The critical refueling test for the mega-moon rocket met all of its goals on Wednesday, despite two separate hydrogen leaks.
The purpose of the cryogenic demonstration was to test the replaced seals and use updated, “kinder and gentler” loading procedures for the supercooled propellant the rocket would face on launch day.
NASA engineers detected a liquid hydrogen leak during the test that had “the same signature” as a leak that prevented the September 3 launch attempt. However, their troubleshooting efforts allowed the team to manage the leak.
The team was able to completely fill the core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. They also completed an engine bleed test, which conditions the four engines and cools them down before launch. (The mission team aborted Artemis I’s first launch attempt on August 29, primarily due to a problem with a faulty sensor that occurred during the bleed.)
A hydrogen leak detected in the 4-inch quick-disconnect line to bleed the engine exceeded the 4% limit during a pre-pressurization test. This quick-disconnect line carries liquid hydrogen out of the engines after passing through the engines and cooling them. But the leakage rate decreased on its own.
In addition, the Artemis team received approval from the Space Force for the September 27 launch attempt and a backup date of October 2.
The Space Force oversees all rocket launches from the East Coast of the United States, including NASA’s launch site in Florida, and this area is known as the Eastern Range. Officials in the field are charged with ensuring that there is no danger to people or property in any launch attempt.
After receiving detailed data from NASA, the Space Force issued a waiver on launch dates.
The inaugural mission of the Artemis program will begin a phase of NASA’s space exploration that aims to land different crews of astronauts in previously unexplored regions of the moon — the Artemis II and Artemis III missions, planned for 2024 and 2025, respectively — and eventually deliver manned missions to Mars.
