NASA will launch Artemis I moon rocket this year after multiple delays

November 16, 2022

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After 50 years, the United States is returning to the Moon on Wednesday with a scheduled launch of Artemis I, a high-profile mission that has been decades in the making.

NASA teams proceeded to fuel the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket with liquid hydrogen and oxygen at 3:50 p.m. ET – just nine hours ahead of liftoff. The Artemis I launch was scheduled to begin at 1:04 a.m. ET Wednesday, giving NASA two hours to send the rocket into orbit, but technical problems delayed the launch time.

According to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems, the launch is halted until 1:00 a.m. ET while the launch team determines a new launch time.

The weather is 90% “favorable” for Wednesday’s attempt, according to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems. The launch has been cleared and delayed four times this year – twice due to technical issues, once for a hurricane and once for a tropical storm.

“So far, everything is going very smoothly,” said assistant launch director Jeremy Graber about an hour into refueling.

But around 9:30 p.m. ET, NASA reported intermittent hydrogen leakage on the rocket’s core stage. About half an hour later, launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave the “go” for a special “red team” to enter the launch pad to troubleshoot the problem.

While the Red Team completed the repair of hydrogen by 11 pm. ET, NASA reported a technical problem related to a radar. NASA’s Range Safety Operations was able to replace Ethernet switches, a type of networking hardware, by 12:30 p.m. et. Teams are moving forward, but testing will need to be done.

The Artemis I launch will send a new, empty capsule into orbit around the Moon for the first time in 50 years. This first test flight is expected to last four to six weeks and end with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The $4.1 billion mission will allow NASA to verify the capsule’s heat shield during re-entry. If successful, the four astronauts would be able to strap in for the next Moon trip in 2024, followed by a lunar landing of two astronauts a year or two later.

A crowd of about 15,000 is expected at the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket, and thousands more are lining the beaches and streets outside the gates.

What is Artemis I?

Artemis I is the first part of the Artemis mission, which aims to complete lunar orbit. The mission launched the Space Launch System rocket, also known as SLS.

According to NASA, the SLS will generate a maximum thrust of 8.8 million pounds when it makes its first flight, “using more power than any rocket”.

According to NASA, the SLS rocket will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, flying farther than any craft ever built for humans.

The unmanned Orion spacecraft, a larger and more complex successor to the Apollo spacecraft, is mounted atop an SLS rocket. After liftoff, the Orion capsule will travel 1.3 million miles to lunar orbit and back for about a month.

A successful return to Earth would let NASA determine when astronauts could be placed in the capsule in 2024 for a similar mission, known as Artemis II. Then, Artemis III would place two astronauts on the surface of the Moon a year or two later.

What are the Artemis missions?

NASA says the Artemis mission will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.

The mission aims to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon, according to NASA. Scientific discoveries made on and around the Moon will be used to prepare for a Mars mission – with the hope of sending the first astronauts to the Red Planet.

Why is there no crew on the Artemis I launch?

The purpose is to test the ship’s propulsion and navigation systems and Orion’s life-support systems, according to NASA. The unmanned spacecraft will have three mannequins.

NASA will place a mannequin in the commander’s chair and the other two in adjacent chairs to track radiation levels.

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