NASA has also decided to cancel the second launch attempt of the Artemis 1 mission directed to the Moon due to a leak detected during the loading of liquid hydrogen which, after three technical interventions, could not be eliminated. The decision was made by the launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, after the first ‘no go’ of the technicians. The next attempt is set for Monday 5 September.
After the first failed launch on 29 August, the new attempt of the Artemis I mission was scheduled for today but the failure in the central stage of the SLS rocket temporarily canceled hopes, postponing them. The cause, informs NASA, was identified in a faulty connection. The next attempt to launch the unmanned Artemis 1 mission to the Moon could take place in the next few days or even in October, if engineers decide to remove the rocket and probe from the launch pad to eliminate the causes of the fuel leak. NASA currently has a 90-minute window to launch Artemis 1 on Monday, 22:12 GMT. SNe has another Tuesday (September 6), but the launch window is shortened, just 24 minutes. At the moment, however, nothing has yet been decided.
After the first intervention of the technicians, the launch director had decided to go back to increasing the pressure and groped to reposition the fitting at the origin of the leak. But sensors from Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39B detected a new leak of liquid hydrogen located at one of the fittings along the propellant loading line between the central stage of the SLS rocket and the mobile launch pad. The mission had been put on standby. And the technicians had recommended not to proceed with the launch attempt. And so came the final Blackwell-Thompson decision.
Also last Monday, during a first attempt, the launch was canceled at the last moment due to technical problems, in particular on the cooling of the engines. “A bit of perspective – comments the Italian ESA astronaut, Luca Parmitano – 11 Shuttles had to be brought back to fix something “and” 2 of them had to be restored twice. When Artemis 1 flies, no one will remember the delays: if something had gone wrong today, however, we would have remembered it for a long time. Then: go Artemis! “.
The goal of Artemis 1, named after the Apollo twin sister, is to test the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. The mission is unmanned: mannequins equipped with sensors replace the astronauts and record the levels of acceleration, vibrations and radiation.
Here are the phases from launch to ditching: about 8 minutes after take-off, the four engines of the main rocket will shut down, which a few seconds later will separate to return to the Pacific Ocean, while the second stage with the Orion capsule will continue its race. One and a half hours after launch, a first important maneuver (Trans Lunar Injection) will be carried out to route Orion towards the Moon. At 2 hours and 5 minutes Orion will separate from the second stage of the rocket which in three phases will release the ten CubeSats on board, including the Italian Argomoon. Orion will then have to make a series of small correction maneuvers up to make the highly anticipated close flyby: six days after launch, the capsule will thus reach 100 kilometers from the lunar ground and will no longer be visible from the Earth because it is hidden behind the Moon.
Eight days after launch, the insertion maneuver around the Moon in the so-called distant retrograde orbit will be performed, where Orion will stay for two weeks to complete one and a half turns around the Moon. On the 24th day, the maneuvers for the return will begin, which will culminate with a second close flyby, the most critical: if something goes wrong, Orion could be lost. If all goes well, Orion will continue his journey towards the Earth’s atmosphere. Shortly before the entrance, it will separate from the service module, then cross the border of the atmosphere at over 40,000 kilometers per hour, with the heat shield of 5 meters in diameter (the largest in the world) reaching temperatures of up to 2,760 degrees. The mission will end with the landing in the Pacific, where a US Navy recovery ship will be waiting for her.