NASA rolls Artemis 1 moon rocket off the start pad to shelter from Hurricane Ian
NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket is trying to get shelter from the storm.
The area agency commenced rolling the Artemis 1 stack — a Room Start Process (SLS) rocket topped by an Orion crew capsule — off Kennedy House Center’s (KSC) Start Pad 39B tonight (Sept. 26) at about 11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT on Sept. 27).
Artemis 1 is headed for KSC’s enormous Vehicle Assembly Making (VAB), wherever it will be protected from Hurricane Ian, ought to the storm’s lash drop on Florida’s Atlantic coast. The roughly 4-mile (6.4 kilometers) journey to the VAB, produced atop NASA’s venerable crawler transporter-2 car, is expected to consider about 11 hrs.
Similar: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updates
Extra: 10 wild points about the Artemis 1 moon mission
This is just not Artemis 1’s very first rollback the vehicle also departed Pad 39B for the VAB in April and July of this yr following conducting fueling assessments. The SLS and Orion built it again to the pad in mid-August ahead of a liftoff try on Aug. 29.
That consider was foiled by a specialized glitch, and a leak of liquid hydrogen propellant scuttled a subsequent start attempt on Sept. 3. The Artemis 1 team mounted the leak and begun making ready for a further planned consider on Tuesday (Sept. 27), but then Hurricane Ian intervened.
It’s unclear at this place if Ian is indeed likely to hammer Florida’s Atlantic coastline the most new designs have the storm using individual intention at the Sunshine State’s Gulf side. But NASA made the decision early Monday morning (Sept. 26) to play it protected and get Artemis 1 inside of the VAB.
Artemis 1 group members have stated they will likely carry out some maintenance work the moment they get to the VAB, like resetting the batteries (opens in new tab) for the mission’s flight termination procedure (FTS), which is built to wipe out the SLS if it veers off system for the duration of launch.
The FTS batteries were being initially qualified for just 20 days on the launch pad, and that time was up a even though back again. The U.S. Area Drive, which oversees the Jap Selection of rocket launches, granted two certification extensions, which covered an Artemis 1 liftoff by at least early October. But it will make feeling to reset the FTS batteries if the car is at the VAB anyway, NASA officials have claimed.
It’s also shortly to speculate about a new Artemis 1 goal start day we will just have to hold out for much more details from NASA.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018 illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide about the lookup for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket is trying to get shelter from the storm.
The area agency commenced rolling the Artemis 1 stack — a Room Start Process (SLS) rocket topped by an Orion crew capsule — off Kennedy House Center’s (KSC) Start Pad 39B tonight (Sept. 26) at about 11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT on Sept. 27).
Artemis 1 is headed for KSC’s enormous Vehicle Assembly Making (VAB), wherever it will be protected from Hurricane Ian, ought to the storm’s lash drop on Florida’s Atlantic coast. The roughly 4-mile (6.4 kilometers) journey to the VAB, produced atop NASA’s venerable crawler transporter-2 car, is expected to consider about 11 hrs.
Similar: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updates
Extra: 10 wild points about the Artemis 1 moon mission
This is just not Artemis 1’s very first rollback the vehicle also departed Pad 39B for the VAB in April and July of this yr following conducting fueling assessments. The SLS and Orion built it again to the pad in mid-August ahead of a liftoff try on Aug. 29.
That consider was foiled by a specialized glitch, and a leak of liquid hydrogen propellant scuttled a subsequent start attempt on Sept. 3. The Artemis 1 team mounted the leak and begun making ready for a further planned consider on Tuesday (Sept. 27), but then Hurricane Ian intervened.
It’s unclear at this place if Ian is indeed likely to hammer Florida’s Atlantic coastline the most new designs have the storm using individual intention at the Sunshine State’s Gulf side. But NASA made the decision early Monday morning (Sept. 26) to play it protected and get Artemis 1 inside of the VAB.
Artemis 1 group members have stated they will likely carry out some maintenance work the moment they get to the VAB, like resetting the batteries (opens in new tab) for the mission’s flight termination procedure (FTS), which is built to wipe out the SLS if it veers off system for the duration of launch.
The FTS batteries were being initially qualified for just 20 days on the launch pad, and that time was up a even though back again. The U.S. Area Drive, which oversees the Jap Selection of rocket launches, granted two certification extensions, which covered an Artemis 1 liftoff by at least early October. But it will make feeling to reset the FTS batteries if the car is at the VAB anyway, NASA officials have claimed.
It’s also shortly to speculate about a new Artemis 1 goal start day we will just have to hold out for much more details from NASA.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018 illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide about the lookup for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).
