NASA is still aiming to launch its Artemis 1 moon rocket on Wednesday (November 16), but a few boxes need to be ticked first.
Artemis 1, which will send an unmanned Orion capsule into lunar orbit using a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Wednesday during a two- hours that opens at 1:04 in the morning. EST (0604). And the mission team is confident that it can achieve this goal.
“I feel good about this attempt on the 16th,” Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager at NASA headquarters in Washington, said during a press conference Sunday evening (Nov. 13).
“The team is moving forward as a unit,” he added. “We just have work left to do.”
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Mission: Live Updates More: 10 Wild Facts About the Artemis 1 Moon Mission
One focus of this work will be a thin strip of caulk called the RTV that surrounds Orion. The RTV helps smooth out a small indentation in the capsule that could cause some unwanted air circulation and heating during flight, Sarafin said.
Hurricane Nicole tore away some of that caulking on Thursday (Nov. 10) when it slammed into Florida’s Space Coast, mission team members said. (The Artemis 1 stack bore the wrath of Nicole, which weakened to a tropical storm shortly after landfall, outdoors at KSC’s Pad 39B.)
It’s possible that some of the RTVs torn apart by the storm could have been released during liftoff, creating a debris hazard for the SLS, Sarafin said. The team is still examining the nature and severity of this risk.
“We need to spend a little more time reviewing our flight justification on this launch attempt, specifically regarding the release of any remaining RTV and debris transport,” Sarafin said.
The Artemis 1 team isn’t too concerned about increased “aeroheating” around Orion due to the loss of some RTVs, he added.
“We have protections in place for the materials that are the basis of this RTV,” he said. “This is just an extra layer to create a kind of seamless airflow.”
The RTV problem cannot be fixed on the launch pad, because Orion is so high up in the SLS. If the team determines that the caulk needs to be replaced, a return to KSC’s vehicle assembly building would likely be required.
In addition to the RTV analyses, the team plans to replace an electrical connector near the base of the SLS that is associated with some iffy readings. This can be done on the pad. And it’s less of a problem, Sarafin said, because the rocket has considerable redundancy in its electrical systems.
“We have very well written release engagement criteria that are very well thought out,” Sarafin said. Those criteria, he added, “would allow flying despite what this plug-in can bring. That said, we hope to return to a fully functional capability.”
The Artemis 1 team will reconvene on Monday (November 14) to discuss these and other topics. They plan to hold another briefing that afternoon, so we’ll have an update on the situation and final thoughts at that time.
Artemis 1 will be the first flight for SLS and the second for Orion, which launched into Earth orbit on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket in 2014.
It will also be the first mission of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, which aims to establish a manned outpost near the Moon’s south pole in the late 2020s.
If all goes as planned with Artemis 1, Artemis 2 will launch in 2024, sending astronauts on a journey around the Moon. Artemis 3 will put boots on the ground near the lunar south pole in 2025 or 2026.
Artemis 1 will last about 26 days if it launches on Wednesday. (Different launch dates result in different mission durations, thanks to orbital dynamics.) Mother Nature should cooperate; There is a 90% chance of good weather on Wednesday. If Artemis 1 is unable to fly that day, NASA has fallback dates of November 19 and 25.
Mike Wall is the author of “Over there (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or enabled Facebook (opens in a new tab).