Artemis I, launch on 27 September postponed due to the risk of a tropical storm

The past weekend will be remembered with regret by those who were anxiously awaiting the launch of the Artemis I mission, and although we knew that the risks were very high and history teaches missions of this type present complications of the last second that are impossible to predict, it is undeniable that we hoped for it until the end.

NASA had to throw in the towel for now, but this decision proved necessary in light of the latest vicissitudes that marked the afternoon hours of Saturday 3 September, that is, those immediately preceding the departure, which was scheduled to start at 20.17 according to our time zone. What went wrong? We followed in real time what was happening at the Kennedy Space Center reporting it in our main article, but let’s try to take stock of the situation. In the meantime, we also have an update on the possible dates on which NASA will attempt the launch again

When everything seemed to be rowing in the right direction, after 15 according to our time zone, the engineers of the Artemis I mission carried out the last checks. They immediately noticed a leak in a cavity between the ground side and the side plates of the rocket that surround a line of 20 cm in diameter whose purpose is to fill up with hydrogen, or to empty the tanks if necessary. If initially the problem seemed to be solved in a short time, after three unsuccessful attempts to reposition the seal, the worst began to be thought of.

But apparently there seems to have been a small misunderstanding due to human error. During the initial phase of the hydrogen loading operations, commonly called ‘chilldown’ and which occurs when the launch controllers cool the lines and the propulsion system before flowing liquid hydrogen into the tank at – 252 degrees Celsius, A command was sent by mistake that temporarily increased the pressure in the system. The increase in pressure was not critical otherwise the SLS would have risked exploding, however the increased pressurization may have contributed to the cause of the leak and the loss of hydrogen.

What is certain is that the engineers are investigating the problem, but to be sure they have isolated the cause and to completely fix the malfunction it will be necessary to return the rocket to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)and this means that the last backup date that we had indicated, the 5th of September, will certainly be disregarded.

At this point it is good to be realistic and consider that the next few days will be essential to understand when you can try again with the launch, however in addition to the possible possibility of having to carry out the work to replace the seal and the components that led to the loss of hydrogen, it will be necessary also rerun the checks on the flight termination system (FTS)that is the emergency protocol that allows the Orion capsule to detach itself from the rocket in case of problems.

It will take 25 days to recertify the FTS alone, so it’s safe to imagine that the most likely month for a new attempt will be October. Some time ago, NASA had identified 14 launch opportunities between September 19 and October 4, except for September 29 and 30 which would not be available. Otherwise there would be 11 more launch opportunities between October 17 and 31, except on October 24, 25, 26 and 28 which apparently would not be available.

At the moment it is difficult to make correct predictions, but we will continue to follow this issue and will update you as soon as we know more.

25/09

NASA finally canceled the launch scheduled for September 27, however this time the problem is not of a technical nature but simply linked to unstable weather. There is a strong possibility that a tropical storm will hit Florida on that date, so it was decided to once again postpone the mission until a later date. Today a decision will be made on the next launch opportunity, which cannot be ruled out also in the second half of October.

13/09

New update for the Artemis 1 mission, which after the problems we have talked about at length in the original article (just above all the details), and which have thwarted the first launch attempts, is getting closer and closer to the day when the operation will be retried.

Last night NASA published an update post on its official website in which it reveals that the date of September 23 is no longer desirable and we look with certainty at 27 September. A backup date has also been decided in case, once again, problems arise that require a further postponement. The next attempt will take place on October 2nd.

The updated dates are the result of careful consideration of multiple logistics topics, including the added value of having more time to prepare for a new cryogenic test, which will take place prior to launch preparation.

Also the planned mission of NASA and SpaceX it will not come to life until Monday 3 Octoberlet’s talk about the launch of the Crew-5 mission, which will bring a new crew to the International Space Station. The teams are working on the upcoming launch in parallel with the Artemis I mission planning and both programs will continue to be evaluated in the coming weeks. As for the Return of Crew-4 members, there are no official dates yet, but the agency will schedule it after a brief handover on the space station upon the arrival of Crew-5 members.

08/09

NASA is aiming for September 23 to retry a new launch of the Artemis 1 mission after the recent failure earlier this month. The agency also indicated September 27 as the next launch opportunity, as the teams will be able to solve the fuel leak problem we told you about above.

During a conference call earlier today, Artemis 1 officials revealed that September 23 will offer a 120-minute launch window starting at 12.47pm, while on September 27 it offers a 70-minute launch window starting at 5.37pm. always according to our time zone. We will update you if further news emerges.