Well established on its launch site, the giant SLS rocket visibly withstood the onslaught of tropical storm Nicole. Enough for NASA to start its countdown to liftoff this November 16. But you will have to get up early to attend, the shooting is scheduled for 7:04 am tomorrow morning!
It will be visible live here.
SLS against the storm
Despite arriving on the gigantic tracked vehicle Crawler Transporter earlier this month, NASA officials had their work cut out to maintain their chances of getting the Artemis I mission off the ground on schedule. Indeed, hardly had the giant rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), been in place than the meteorological services announced the arrival of a major depression which, a few hours later, gave birth to tropical storm Nicole.
NASA and decision makers chose to leave the rocket in place at Kennedy Space Center on LC-39B, but it endured more than 24 hours of heavy rain and stronger winds than it was designed for. In order to validate the launch date, it was therefore necessary to wait for the teams to carefully inspect all the flight equipment, but also the service tower and the ground equipment. Finally, this Monday, November 14 in the morning, the director of NASA gave the “Go” to start the countdown.
Tick tock, tick tock
The latter is in progress at the time of writing this article, with a single objective: takeoff on Wednesday, November 16 at 7:04 a.m. (Paris time), 1:04 a.m. in Florida. It will be dark (!), but the authorities have stated that with correct weather (it will be more than 90% favourable), the visibility conditions will largely meet the safety criteria for a first flight and for following the trajectory. initial. It must be said that with one of the most powerful rockets in history, which fires its four central engines and two gigantic solid boosters for takeoff, it will be difficult to miss.
It will still be necessary to spend the last hours, which are the most crucial, before the flight. NASA already has several attempts behind it, and technical problems have so far dampened the hopes of the agency and its teams. The SLS is a brand new, complex launcher, and the Artemis program costs billions: maximum precautions should be taken before turning on the engines. Afterwards, it will be too late… But at some point, you have to start!
Source : NASA
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