The US space agency has announced that NASA’s “mega moon rocket” is now scheduled to make its third launch attempt on September 27th.
The Artemis-1 rocket consists of the six-person Orion capsule perched atop the 30-story Space Launch System (SLS) – also known as the “mega-lunar rocket” – and was originally scheduled to make its maiden voyage to the moon and back on 08/29.
But technical difficulties thwarted the rocket’s first two launch attempts. NASA scrubbed the rocket’s first attempt because engineers were unable to cool one of the rocket’s four core RS-25 engines to a safe temperature in time for liftoff. The agency said it fixed the problem, which it attributed to a faulty temperature sensor. Then, during the rocket’s second attempt, an alarm sounded as the vehicle was being loaded with its supercooled liquid hydrogen fuel, alerting engineers to a leak in the seal of one of the rocket’s engines. Engineers tried three times to plug the leak and failed, NASA said.
Related: Blitz hits the launch pad of the Artemis I mission “Mega Moon” during testing
NASA said the leak was at a “quick disconnect” where the SLS core stage met the fuel line from the rocket’s mobile launch tower, which the agency repaired by replacing two gaskets at the leak site. The US space agency says the earliest launch opportunity will be September 27, with a backup opportunity on October 2. NASA engineers plan to demonstrate the leak is patched by conducting a test on September 17 to pump propellant into the vehicle.
“The updated data represents a careful consideration of several logistical issues, including the added value of having more time to prepare for the cryogenic demonstration test and then more time to prepare for launch,” NASA officials wrote in a blog post detailing the new launch date was announced. “The data also allows managers to ensure teams have enough rest and to replenish stocks of cryogenic propellants.”
Orion is scheduled to make two flybys of the moon 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface and fly up to 40,000 miles (64,000 km) beyond the moon before returning to Earth 38 days after launch.
NASA has stowed three mannequins aboard the capsule, which will be used to test in-flight radiation and thermal readings. A Snoopy plush toy is also included and floats around in the capsule as a weightlessness indicator.
When Orion returns, it will return hotter and faster than any spacecraft ever, heating up to as much as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius) as it enters Earth’s atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound. This will put the capsule’s ablative heat shield to the test, which, along with the plane’s parachute, uses air friction to slow Orion to just 20 mph (32.2 km/h), after which it should land safely on the Pacific Ocean’s coast from Baja California, Mexico ready for pickup.
The flight will be followed by Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 in 2024 and 2025/2026, respectively. Artemis 2 will make the same voyage as Artemis 1 but with a human crew of four, and Artemis 3 will send the first woman and first colored person to land on the moon’s south pole.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 ahead of the second launch attempt, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the test mission will spur technological innovation and be a crucial next step in human exploration of the cosmos.
“This time we will not only touch down [on the Moon] and leave after a few hours or a few days – we go back to learn, to live, to work, to explore, to see if there is water; therefore on the [moon’s] South Pole, that would mean we have rocket fuel, we have a gas station up there,” Nelson said. “This time we will learn how to live in this hostile environment for a long time, all with the aim of flying to Mars.”
Originally published on Live Science.
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