Artemis Launch Failures
NASA officials have said that it may not be possible to try launching the Artemis I mission again this month, after scrapping a second attempt to get its new 30-story lunar rocket off the ground due to a fuel leak, on September 3rd.
The current launch window for the mission to the Moon ends on Tuesday, September 6th, and is “definitely off the table,” according to Jim Free, associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, at a press conference on the 3rd.
The next possible launch window is September 19th to October 4th, and failing that, October 17th to October 31st, NASA said.
The ability to take off during those windows “will really depend on the options that the team comes back with likely on Monday [Sept. 5th] or early Tuesday morning,” said Mr Free.
Both launch attempts on August 29th and September 3rd were scrubbed due to leaks in the hydrogen fuel system.
When Will The Next Artemis I Launch Attempt Happen?
In addition to the leaks, another problem facing the Space Launch System (SLS) is its emergency self-destruct system.
Designed to explode in case the rocket deviates off course, the system will likely need to be reexamined before the next launch, which can only be done in the assembly building.
And bringing the rocket in and out of the building will take “several weeks,” Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin said.
The Artemis 1 mission will test NASA’s new SLS as well as the unmanned Orion capsule that sits at the top of the rocket, in preparation for future Moon-bound journeys with humans aboard (likely starting in 2025 if everything goes according to schedule).
“This is a whole new vehicle, a whole new technology, a whole new purpose of going back to the moon and preparation to go to Mars,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Yes, it’s hard.”
Mike Sarafin described the hydrogen leak as “large,” and said one of their “leading suspects” was a seal on a fueling tube.
Engineering teams believe they will have to replace the seal, either directly on the launch pad or after taking the rocket back to its assembly building a few miles away.
NASA has previously said that the early October period would be complicated to coordinate because a crew of astronauts will be using the Kennedy Space Center for a rocket launch to the International Space Station.
So the most likely next launch window will be the late October one.
Mission Aims
Once launched by the SLS, the Orion capsule will take several days to reach the Moon, flying 60 miles above it at its closest approach.
The capsule will fire its engines to get to a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) of 40,000 miles beyond the Moon, a record for a spacecraft rated to carry humans.
Mannequins equipped with sensors are standing in for astronauts on the Artemis I mission and will record acceleration, vibration and radiation levels.
The trip is expected to last around six weeks and one of its main objectives is to test the capsule’s heat shield, which at 16 feet in diameter is the largest ever built.
On its return to Earth’s atmosphere, the heat shield will have to withstand speeds of 25,000 miles per hour and a temperature of 2,760 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit) – roughly half as hot as the Sun.
For Artemis, NASA has gone back to using the ablative (burning off) type of shield that was used in the Apollo capsules rather than the heat-absorbing tiles that were used on the Space Shuttle.
Artemis is named after the twin sister of the Greek god Apollo, after whom the first Moon missions were named.
