The inclement weather first, an engine problem then: this is why the spacecraft that must initiate the return of the man to the moon did not leave on Monday (and because, all in all, not a bad blow for the program)
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NEW YORK – First a thunderstorm e lightning too close to the historic launch pad 39B delayed refueling operations, then there was one loss of hydrogenfinally a problem to one of the engines.
And it was this last hitch that stopped the launch of the test mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Artemis I
unmannedthe first step of a a long journey that should bring man back within three years (to be precise a woman and an African American) on the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in ’72.
The test launch relies largely on NASA’s Space Launch System, a 322-foot-tall rocket, and the Orion spacecraft, which will transport crew members on future lunar missions and which this time housed instead. three mannequins: il Commander Moonikin Camposnamed after an engineer from Apollo 13, ed Helga e Zohar. The puppets must measure accelerations and vibrations, and detect and measure radiation to prepare humans for flight. With them various amulets, including uno Snoopy which will serve as an indicator of weightlessness to show the team on the ground when the spacecraft reaches weightlessness. The mission is expected to last six weeks and conclude with the return of the capsule to Earth with a landing in the Pacific.
The 98-meter spacecraft the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA and passes the Saturn V which took the Apollo astronauts to the moon. The ultimate goal of the Artemis program – named after the goddess who was Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology – is establish a lunar base as a springboard for travel to Mars.
The temperature node
To prevent take-off – with Vice President Kamala Harris and thousands of people ready to assist on the spot – after fixing the other unexpected events, it was therefore the inability to bring one of the booster’s RS-25 engines to the correct temperature, by passing the liquid hydrogen at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (-217 Celsius).
I think it’s just one example of this being a very complicated machine, a very complicated system and all of these things have to work, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said adding that controls are only part of the space business and part of a test flight.
The four engines as a whole have already been in space 25 times, but the first time they are assembled with the rest. It will be possible to arrange everything in time for the next window useful for launch, Friday 2 September (the next one still on Monday 5)?
NASA will try but some experts skeptical that the engine problem can be solved on the launch platform, e if it is necessary to disembark the rocket then it will take days.
False alarm
In the morning there was another alarm: NASA officials had spotted what they feared was a crack or other defect on the large orange tank with the four main engines, which turned out to be just an accumulation of ice in a crack in the insulating foam. In the late evening of Sunday, however, he had been there an 11-minute delay in the lines of communication between launch control and the Orion capsule.
The problem has been solved, but the Agency needs to know why it happened.
Whatever happens, and despite NASA had tried in recent days to lower expectations on the possibility of a good first, the cancellation is a bad blow for a program that has already suffered numerous delays and for years has been defined by critics as the launch system for the Senate, referring to the fact that more than opening up new space possibilities it served to create jobs (and votes) in key congressional districts.
The rocket had already had problems in testing before launch. Also in June, during a test known as a wet dress rehearsal, there was a leak of liquid hydrogen in one of the lines leading from ground supplies to the rocket. This is an aspect that they wanted to test during the fourth test, but they did not succeed – said Derrol Nail, of NASA TV, during the direct video of the agency of the launch attempt – so this was the first opportunity for the team to see it. in live action. a particularly difficult problem is getting to that temperature.
August 29, 2022 (change August 29, 2022 | 18:24)
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