![]() ![]() At 8:51 ET Orion's solar arrays, used to power the spacecraft, deploy, which will take roughly 12 minutes. The solid rocket boosters separate, the launch abort system jettisons and the core stage - the big orange tank - separates and falls back to Earth. In the first 10 minutes after liftoff, a lot happens. The last time anyone was on the moon was in December 1972. The start of the Artemis mission, Artemis I, won't involve any crew on board - except for three mannequins and a plush Snoopy - but it is a crucial step in returning humans to space.Īrtemis II is set to launch in 2024 or 2025, with four astronauts who will orbit the moon, including a Canadian. Fuel leaks forced NASA to scrub the launch of the uncrewed rocket. We were ready for some of them, and the technical challenges we encountered on the engine bleed and the vent valve are just some things we're going to have to look at tomorrow after we get a little smarter and get rested."ĭuration 3:47 Featured VideoNASA has postponed the launch of Artemis I, the first launch in the agency's mission to return humans to the moon. The launch team will reconvene on Tuesday afternoon to review data on the problems, and develop options for the next launch attempt, Sarafin said. Dark clouds and rain gathered over the launch site as soon as the countdown was halted, and thunder echoed across the coast. The problem required what turned out to be a simple fix.Įven if there had been no technical snags, thunderstorms ultimately would have prevented a liftoff, NASA said. Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with sluggish communication between the Orion capsule and launch control. The next available window to try again is Friday, if they can get the rocket ready in time. ET.Įngineers struggled to pinpoint the source of the cooling problem well after the launch postponement was announced.ĭuration 2:02 Featured VideoNASA is trying to figure exactly what went wrong with its Artemis 1 rocket after scrapping Monday’s planned launch over a heating issue with one of the engines. The tanks were being filled with super-cooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants, and launch teams began a "conditioning" process to chill the engines sufficiently for liftoff, NASA said.īut one of the four main engines failed to cool down as expected, and while trying to resolve that issue, the team noticed another leak, involving a vent valve higher up on the rocket, prompting launch team managers to pause the countdown and then call off the launch at 8:35 a.m. ![]() The process was repeatedly stopped and started due to a hydrogen leak, before teams were able to reduce the seepage. Once the go-ahead was given to fill the fuel tanks - which altogether hold 2,778,492 litres of propellant, or the equivalent of 41 swimming pools of water - another issue arose: the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were filling at unacceptable rates relative to one another. First, it was the unco-operative weather, with thunderstorms delaying the propellant load for the rocket. NASA endured several issues at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday morning. NASA says the next attempt at a debut space flight of its "mega moon rocket" could happen as early as Friday, but engineers and other experts must first review a raft of problems that saw the Artemis mission's planned launch to be scrapped prior to liftoff. ![]()
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