Surprisingly, perhaps, the SLS rocket and launch pad suffered no major damage. Instead, it rode out hurricane-force winds and rain at the pad, exposed to the elements. That storm eventually intensified and became Hurricane Nicole, but by that time is was too late to haul the rocket back to the protection of its assembly building. So there's no change in our plan to attempt to launch on the 16th."Īfter coming up with a "kinder, gentler" technique for fueling the rocket to minimize any leakage, engineers rolled the SLS back out to the pad on November 3 to prepare for another launch try, despite predicted development of a sub-tropical storm in the Caribbean. "I asked if there were any dissenting opinions, there were none," said Mike Sarafin, the Artemis 1 mission manager. The Space Launch System rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center early Monday evening. EST Wednesday, the opening of a two-hour window.
#Artemis nasa launch free
The launch would kick off a long-delayed flight to boost an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon and back.Įven if more strips of the caulk-like "RTV" insulation pull free during the Space Launch System rocket's climb to space, an engineering analysis showed the material is not massive or dense enough to cause any significant damage even if a piece hits one of the two lower stages or strap-on boosters, engineers concluded.Īnd so, with the countdown proceeding into its final hours, NASA's mission management team unanimously approved pressing ahead to a third launch try at 1:04 a.m. NASA managers Monday reviewed the threat posed by hurricane-damaged insulation on the Artemis moon rocket and cleared the $4.1 billion booster for launch "as is" early Wednesday.
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