This article is more than 1 year old

Hurricane Ian blows NASA Artemis Moon launch into October or November

Fun fact: The mission is named after the Latin word for 'delayed'

NASA's Moon-ward Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will not be blasting off from Earth until late October at the earliest, after the vehicle was rolled back to its hangar to shelter from an incoming hurricane.

Tropical storm Ian is projected to hit Florida, where the SLS lives, over the next few days. Officials began transporting the rocket back to its Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Monday at 2321 ET (0321 UTC, Tuesday) as a precautionary measure. Unfortunately, the move means NASA cannot launch the rocket from the Kennedy Space Center for the next few weeks. 

It's hoped the SLS rocket will be used in NASA's Artemis mission to, some time this decade, put the first American woman and another man on the Moon. For now, prior to that return to our natural satellite, the US space agency wants to test the SLS: it's expected to carry an empty Orion crew capsule up into the Moon's orbit. The podule will then return to Earth. In future, there'll be astronauts in the pod.

The hurricane marks another set back to conduct this first-ever flight demonstration of the multi-billion-dollar SLS heavy launch vehicle – NASA's most powerful rocket to date – that was at one point slated to fly on August 29.

Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said there was a slim chance the SLS may launch in late October, and November may be more likely. "We're not writing it off, but it will be difficult," he said during a media teleconference briefing on Tuesday.

When weather conditions improve, experts will assess any damage to infrastructure at the center before personnel are safely allowed back on site. Engineers then have to perform checks on the heavy launch vehicle; hardware components may need to be replaced, such as the flight's batteries before it can be rolled back out on the launchpad. 

Hurricane Ian isn't the only bad omen NASA has been forced to deal with. Janet Petro, the space center's director, said a fire had erupted in the VAB. "I'll also note that approximately at 1145 today, a fire was reported in the Vehicle Assembly Building, employees were evacuated and there were no reported injuries. The VAB is now fire safe, personnel are back inside working and the Artemis vehicle was never at risk," she said during the briefing. An investigation to uncover the cause of the blaze is underway.

All previous attempts to launch the SLS have been scrubbed due to hydrogen fuel leakage. A team of NASA engineers performed a cryogenic demonstration test to confirm whether repairs made to address leaks were successful or not on September 21.

"The launch director has confirmed all objectives have been met for the cryogenic demonstration test, and teams are now proceeding with critical safety activities and preparations for draining the rocket's tanks," NASA previously said in a statement. "After encountering a hydrogen leak early in the loading process, engineers were able to troubleshoot the issue and proceed with the planned activities." ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like