But NASA endured a lot of trouble Monday morning. First, there was the uncooperative weather, with storms delaying the propellant load for the rocket. Once they got the go-ahead to fill the tanks — which hold a total of 2,778,492 liters of water, or the equivalent of 41 propellant pools — they faced another issue: filling liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen at unacceptable rates with each other. . And finally, one of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) – the rocket itself – ran into another problem. Fuel leaks eventually forced NASA to clean up the New Moon rocket launch. The next launch attempt won’t take place until Friday at the earliest. This is the beginning of the Artemis mission, Artemis I. Although there will be no crew on board – except for three mannequins and a plush Snoopy – this is a critical step in returning humans to space. Artemis II is due to launch in 2024 or 2025, with four astronauts orbiting the moon, including a Canadian. The last time someone was on the moon was in December 1972. The weather along the Space Coast was turbulent to say the least. Last week, temperatures were around 32C with 42C humidity and thunderstorms. On Saturday, two lightning bolts around the rocket struck three times. Lightning strikes Launch Pad 39B’s protection system as NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft, lands on the pad Saturday. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
What to expect
A lot happens in the first 10 minutes after takeoff. The solid rocket boosters separate, the launchers jettison the system, and the center stage—the big orange tank—splits apart and falls back to Earth. At 8:51 ET Orion’s solar arrays, used to power the spacecraft, deploy, which will take about 12 minutes. Then Orion must get into position to head on the path to the moon. To do this, there are several maneuvers, which continue throughout the day, which NASA will monitor very closely. If all goes well, Orion will be on an outbound trip to the moon that will continue five days after launch. When it gets there, it has to move on a very specific trajectory which will last another three days. Finally, 35 days after Orion left Earth, the spacecraft will begin its journey home, where it is scheduled to launch into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on October 10. After Orion returns home, NASA will evaluate all the systems and tests it performed along the way in preparation for Artemis II. Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Joshua Kutryk — one of four Canadian astronauts who may be on the Artemis II mission — were at the Kennedy Space Center before the launch and said the Artemis I mission is just the first step. “Eventually we will go back to the moon, but this time it’s completely different. Not only will we go to a different location, there will be new science, new technology, but we also have our eyes on Mars.” Hansen said. “This is a proving ground for humanity to take into deep space. These are just the first steps to something much, much bigger.” Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Josh Kutrick were on hand at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as NASA prepared for its first moonwalk in 50 years. (Turgut Yeter/CBC) Kutryk was keen to point out that this is not just a US effort. “This is not just NASA … this is a global effort. This is NASA leading the world to go out and complete these very difficult challenges to try to create — not just the U.S. — but a human presence on the moon and then eventually to Mars,” Kutryk said. “So it’s very different in that sense, and it’s very important in that sense to bring people together.”
