The American Space Agency (Nasa) was to take off its new orange and white rocket called SLS this Monday, August 29. But multiple technical problems prompted the engineers to postpone the mission.
NASA’s newest rocket, the world’s most powerful, has been grounded at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B due to several technical issues. It was to take off for the first time Monday from Florida to the Moon, but the operations of filling the rocket with its fuel gave a hard time to the teams of the American space agency, a few hours before the launch. The reservoirs began to be filled with a delay of about an hour, due to a too high risk of lightning in the middle of the night.
The operations were to continue for several hours. The rocket must be filled with more than three million liters of ultra-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen. But around 3:00 a.m. local time, a potential leak was detected while filling the main stage with hydrogen, leading to a break. After testing, the flow finally resumed. But around 07:00 a.m. local time, a new issue was investigated. One of the four RS-25 engines, under the main stage of the rocket, could not reach the desired low temperature – necessary condition to be able to light it. At 40 minutes from the launch, the countdown was then stopped. “The hydrogen team of the SLS rocket is discussing plans with the mission’s launch director (…) Engineers are asking for a little more time,” NASA tweeted.
The launch of #Artemis I is no longer happening today as teams work through an issue with an engine bleed. Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt. https://t.co/tQ0lp6Ruhv pic.twitter.com/u6Uiim2mom
—NASA (@NASA) August 29, 2022
She hoped to make up for the accumulated delay thanks to the shooting window which extended over two hours and which left room for manoeuvre. But at 2:36 p.m., NASA finally announced the cancellation and postponement of the rocket’s takeoff. The next possible launch date is Friday, September 2, then September 5. But the problem will first have to be assessed by the teams before determining a new date. Engineers will also have to drain all fuel from the aircraft’s tanks. A very tedious task.
NASA announces a postponement of the launch. It looks like a cooling valve is stuck on an engine. It doesn’t matter, it’s better to be sure of your shot. See you for the next shooting window! pic.twitter.com/pJhnsR49Py
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) August 29, 2022
How should take-off take place?
From its height of 98 meters, the orange and white SLS rocket will not be able to take off in the event of rain or thunderstorms. Fifty years after the last flight of Apollo, the Artemis-1 mission should mark the launch of the American program to return to the Moon, which should allow humanity to then reach Mars, aboard the same vessel.
The Orion capsule will be launched unmanned into orbit around the Moon, to verify that the vehicle is safe for future astronauts — including the first woman and the first person of color to walk on the lunar surface.
“This mission carries the dreams and hopes of many people,” said NASA boss Bill Nelson this weekend before adding: “We are now the Artemis generation.”
The moon.
© Fraser Gray/Shutterstock/SIPA
Sign of the times, the first woman launch director at NASA, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, will give the final “go”. Women represent 30% of the workforce in the launch room – against only one for Apollo 11. Two minutes after takeoff, the boosters will fall back into the Atlantic. After eight minutes, the main stage will detach in turn. Then, after about an hour and a half, a final push from the upper stage will put the capsule on its way to the Moon, which it will take several days to reach.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 people were expected to attend the show, including US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Models on board
The main objective of the mission is to test the heat shield of the capsule, which will return to the Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 40,000 km / h, and a temperature half as hot as the surface of the Sun.
Instead of astronauts, mannequins took place on board, equipped with sensors recording vibrations and radiation levels. Microsatellites will also be deployed to study the Moon, or even an asteroid. The capsule will venture up to 64,000 km behind the Moon, farther than any other habitable spacecraft so far.
A complete failure of the mission would be devastating for a rocket with a huge budget (4.1 billion per launch, according to a public audit) and several years late (ordered in 2010 by the American Congress for an initial date of takeoff in 2017) .
Living on the Moon
“What we are starting with this liftoff on Monday is not a short-term sprint but a long-term marathon, to bring the solar system, and beyond, back into our sphere,” Bhavya Lal, associate administrator, said confidently. at NASA. After this first mission, Artemis-2 will carry astronauts to the Moon in 2024, without landing there. An honor reserved for the crew of Artemis-3, in 2025 at the earliest. NASA then wants to launch about one mission per year.
The goal: to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon, with the construction of a space station in orbit around it (Gateway), and a base on the surface. There, humanity must learn to live in deep space and develop all the technologies necessary for a round trip to Mars.
A multi-year journey that could take place “at the end of the 2030s”, according to Bill Nelson. But before that, going to the Moon is also strategic, faced with the ambitions of competing nations, notably China.
“We want to go to the south pole (of the Moon, editor’s note), where the resources are”, in particular water in the form of ice, detailed Mr. Nelson on NBC. “We don’t want China to go in there and say – this is our territory -,” he said.