NASA calls off Artemis 1 moon rocket launch over engine cooling issue

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An engine cooling situation on NASA’s big new rocket for deep-space exploration pressured the company to name off the booster’s much-anticipated launch debut early Monday (Aug. 29).

NASA had principally fueled its first Area Launch System (SLS) megarocket to launch the Artemis 1 moon mission on Monday when launch controllers had been unable to sit back one of many 4 most important engines to the temperatures wanted to deal with its super-cold propellant. The difficulty stalled plans to launch the SLS rocket and its uncrewed Orion spacecraft on an formidable 42-day check flight across the moon. Liftoff was scheduled for 8:33 a.m. EDT (1233 GMT).

Chilling the SLS rocket’s engines earlier than flowing cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen via them is a required step earlier than the rocket can launch, NASA officers mentioned. Whereas three of the engines handed that check, Engine No. 3 didn’t, regardless of troubleshooting efforts.

Associated: NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission: Reside updates
Extra: 10 wild info concerning the Artemis 1 moon mission

rocket under morning skies

An early-morning view of the Artemis 1 stack on the launch pad on Aug. 29, 2022. (Picture credit score: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

“Launch controllers situation the engines by growing stress on the core stage tanks to bleed a few of the cryogenic propellant to the engines to get them to the correct temperature vary to start out them,” NASA officers mentioned in a assertion. “Engine 3 is just not correctly being conditioned via the bleed course of, and engineers are troubleshooting.”

All 4 of those engines flew on NASA’s area shuttle program of reusable automobiles.

In accordance with NASA spokesperson Derrol Nail, the engine conditioning was not one thing that the crew was capable of confirm throughout the “moist costume rehearsal” course of that concluded in June.

“That is one thing they needed to check throughout Moist Gown 4 however had been unable to,” Nail mentioned. “So this was the primary alternative for the crew to see this reside in motion. It is a notably difficult situation even moving into to get that temperature dialed in, in response to engineers.”

The Engine No. 3 conditioning situation cropped up as NASA labored via a collection of glitches throughout the countdown, together with a liquid hydrogen leak early within the fueling course of and a potential crack in part of core booster referred to as the intertank flange, which connects the SLS’s big liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks. The tanks can maintain a mixed 730,000 gallons (3.3 million liters) of propellant.

“The flanges are connection joints that perform like a seam on a shirt, are affixed on the high and backside of the intertank so the 2 tanks might be hooked up to it,” NASA mentioned within the replace.

NASA engineers discovered that the crack was really within the insulating foam on the flange, not within the rocket’s metallic construction. “That ice that shaped is basically air that is being chilled by the tank that will get trapped inside a crack within the foam however not the precise tank,” Nail mentioned.

Nail added that NASA personnel had seen comparable cracks within the foam when it was used on the area shuttles earlier than their retirement in 2011.

The Engine No. 3 issues and the scary crack adopted considerations a few liquid hydrogen leak within the rocket. The leak throughout the fueling course of appeared much like one which occurred throughout an SLS fueling check earlier this 12 months, Nail famous. However NASA officers weren’t fast to guage.

“Though an identical situation was recognized in an earlier moist costume rehearsal, it could not essentially be the identical trigger,” NASA officers wrote in a subsequent replace (opens in new tab).

NASA stopped and restarted the circulate of liquid hydrogen into the tank in an try to confirm the leak and even proceeded with fueling the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) rocket’s higher stage whereas engineers labored the difficulty.

Even earlier than fueling the SLS rocket, NASA confronted challenges throughout Monday’s launch countdown. Offshore storms and lightning delayed fueling of the SLS rocket by almost an hour, forcing launch controllers to work to catch up for misplaced time.

With NASA unable to launch right now, the company may strive for one in all not less than two back-up days on which to fly Artemis 1 on its mission to the moon. If the company solves the Engine No. 3 situation, it may attempt to launch once more Friday (Sept. 2) or Sept. 5, climate allowing. If NASA can not launch by Sept. 5, its subsequent launch strive would probably be in October, mission managers have mentioned. Launch alternatives are restricted by the stage of the moon and lighting circumstances upon reentry, amongst different issues.

“The earliest alternative, relying on what occurs with this engine bleed, can be Sept. 2,” Nail mentioned. “Nevertheless, we’ll await a willpower of what the plan is to go ahead.”

Artemis 1 will ship an uncrewed Orion capsule to lunar orbit and again, on a mission that may take six weeks from liftoff to splashdown. Will probably be the primary flight for the long-delayed SLS and the second for Orion, which made a quick journey to Earth orbit again in 2014. (Orion rode atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket on that uncrewed check flight.)

Artemis 1 may even be the primary mission for NASA’s Artemis program, which goals to ascertain a long-term, sustainable human presence on and across the moon. If all goes nicely with Artemis 1, NASA will probably be clear to start out gearing up for Artemis 2, which can ship astronauts on a journey across the moon.

NASA is focusing on 2024 for the Artemis 2 liftoff and 2025 or 2026 for Artemis 3, which can land astronauts on the moon for the primary time for the reason that ultimate Apollo mission in 1972.

Editor’s be aware: Observe our Artemis 1 mission reside updates web page for the newest on Artemis 1 mission information. Area.com Spaceflight Editor Mike Wall contributed to this report from San Francisco.

Electronic mail Tariq Malik at tmalik@area.com or observe him @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), Fb (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).

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