The Artemis I mission faces a delay of several weeks after its launch was canceled & More Latest News Here
The Artemis I mission faces a delay of several weeks after its launch was canceled & More Latest News Here
They may pass several weeks before NASA can try to launch its huge moon rocket Space Launch System after it was unable to fix what agency officials described as a large, uncontrollable hydrogen leak that forced them to cancel a second flight on Saturday.
Agency officials said they believe they may have to return the rocket to its assembly building for repairs after two failed attempts to launch it on an maiden test flight that would take the uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the Moon.
The decision follows another day of disappointment for the space agencywhich hoped to finally launch the rocket after years of delays and setbacks and mark an important milestone for the return of astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
Instead, the next launch attempt could be well into October, while NASA struggles to understand the complicated and fickle beast that is the rocket and its unstable propellant.
Although NASA officials say breakdowns are a normal part of spaceflight, especially when it comes to a new rocket, NASA’s failure to launch its flagship rocket is sure to renew criticism from some, who see it as a symbol of government mismanagement, influenced by political whims and dependent on outdated technology.
The countdown continued as technicians worked to try to fix the fuel leak (Reuters)
Rocket is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule, and according to some estimates, each launch will cost between 2,000 and 4,000 million dollars. In creating the rocket, Congress directed that it recycle engines and technology from the space shuttle program, which first flew in 1981 and was developed in the 1970s.
Unlike the rockets used by SpaceX to launch astronauts to the International Space Station, which return to Earth to be used again, the Space Launch System is not reusable.
Officials hoped that bringing the rocket to the pad for its first launch would be a statement that NASA had revived its deep space ambitions. But instead of celebrating a triumphant flight that put it on its way to the moon, NASA officials spent most of Saturday morning trying to fix a leak of the volatile liquid hydrogen used as rocket fuel.
Hydrogen, the lightest element, remains in liquid form at minus 217°C, and NASA has had difficulty loading it into rocket tanks without leaking.
NASA ran into a similar problem during a launch attempt on Monday, but was eventually able to overcome it. On Saturday, however, the engineers started loading the hydrogen, but stopped at 7:15 a.m. Then they started again, but had to stop at 9 a.m. when started leaking again. They tried heating the line and then using helium to pressurize it, but neither worked.
A second attempt to heat the line also did not work.
At 11:17 a.m., three hours before the launch window opened, NASA ordered a shutdown. The leak in was bigger than the one they found on Mondaysaid Mike Sarafin, the director of the Artemis program. “Monday’s leak was a manageable leak,” he said. “This was not a manageable leak”. He said one of the hydrogen lines was inadvertently overpressurized, but it was not clear what caused the leak or why exactly the overpressurization occurred.
(Reuters)
Officials said they are considering whether they can fix the leak on the launch pad and then test it there by flowing liquid hydrogen through it – a test they would not be able to do if the rocket is brought back to the assembly building. If the repair can’t be done on the platform, they would have to take it back to the assembly building and do the repairs there, but they couldn’t be sure the problem had been fixed until another laucnh attempt.
In either case, engineers will have to reset the rocket’s emergency flight termination system, which destroys it if it veers off course during launch. This work can only be done in the assembly building.
Whether for technical reasons or bad weather, delays are nothing new in the space program. Officials said Saturday that of the 135 space shuttle launches, 121 were called off at least once. In 20 cases, the spacecraft were returned to the assembly building.
On Saturday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised the SLS launch team, saying the agency will be cautious and not rush the launch until it has all systems up and running.
“We don’t go until then and especially now on a test flight,” Nelson said. NASA “will make sure it’s okay before putting four humans on it.” The delays, he said, are “part of the space business.” He pointed out that scrubs are much less expensive than failure.
As a member of Congress, Nelson flew on the space shuttle in 1986, but endured repeated delays. “We deviated four times,” he said. “We are more than a month late. . . This is part of our space program: be prepared for the scrubs”.
When she was an astronaut preparing to fly on the space shuttle, Pam Melroy, now NASA deputy administrator, used to tell her friends and family to plan a week-long vacation on Florida’s Space Coast “and maybe see a launch ”.
The Artemis I mission, as it’s called, has no astronauts on board and is a test to ensure the rocket and spacecraft are safe for humans to travel on. If NASA is able to complete Artemis I, the next flight will put four astronauts on board for a flight around the Moon, perhaps in 2024. A human landing on the lunar surface could come in 2025 or 2026.
But, as Saturday’s setback demonstrates, NASA still has many technical challenges to overcome. NASA is being especially cautious with its SLS rocket. It has cost some $23 billion to develop, and the space agency hopes it will serve as the backbone of its Artemis program, designed to return astronauts to the Moon.
Sarafin, the director of the Artemis mission, told reporters this week that there are about 500 launch criteria that have to be met and that any number of things could force the space agency to scrub and try another day.
“There is no guarantee that we will take off,” he said. “But we will show up, we will try and we will do our best.”.
Saturday’s shutdown followed Monday’s, when engineers said they were unable to get one of the four engines mounted on the booster stage to the correct temperature needed for launch. After stopping and investigating the problem, they determined a faulty sensor was to blame, and went on to try again on Saturday.
Last year, NASA was able to successfully load the rocket with more than 730,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and test firing the RS-25 engines during its eight-minute duration. But since then he has been unable to repeat that success.
Earlier this year, in a series of fueling tests, it ran into all sorts of problems that prevented the space agency from running a full simulated countdown.
Despite those problems, NASA officials said they felt confident enough to proceed with a launch attempt. The attempts have essentially served as additional fueling tests.
Victor Glover, a NASA astronaut who could be part of one of the crews chosen for an Artemis lunar mission, said flight controllers should be commended for their decision to cancel the launch, especially given the wide public attention it received. .
“It’s hard to make a decision like this“, said. “We may be angry about the hydrogen leak, but cancellation is absolutely the right decision, and it helps build confidence.”
The Artemis I mission faces a delay of several weeks after its launch was canceled
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The Artemis I mission faces a delay of several weeks after its launch was canceled
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