Thousands are gathering in and around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, eagerly anticipating the debut space flight of NASA’s “mega lunar rocket” — and most importantly, its Orion spacecraft heading for the moon.
But NASA had a few problems this morning. First, there was the inclement weather, with thunderstorms delaying the loading of fuel to the rocket.
After they got the go-ahead to fill the tanks — which together hold 2,778,492 liters of water, or the equivalent of 41 swimming pools of fuel — they ran into another problem: liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were filling at unacceptable rates relative to each other.
Finally, one of the Space Launch Systems (SLS) – the rocket itself – ran into another problem.
The two-hour launch window begins at 8:33 a.m. ET, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected along Florida’s Space Coast eagerly awaiting this historic mission.
But with the delays, it’s not certain how much time they’ve lost.
This is the start of the Artemis mission, Artemis I. Although there will be no crew on board — except for three mannequins and a Snoopy plushie — this is a crucial step in getting humans back into space.
Artemis II is due to launch in 2024 or 2025 with four astronauts to orbit the moon, including a Canadian.
The last time someone was on the moon was in December 1972.
The weather on the Space Coast was stormy to say the least. Last week temperatures were around 32C with 42C humidity and thunderstorms. On Saturday, two lightning towers around the rocket were struck three times.
Lightning strikes the containment system at Launch Pad 39B as NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard sits on the pad Saturday. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
What should I expect?
A lot happens in the first 10 minutes after takeoff. The solid rocket boosters are separated, the launch termination system is jettisoned, and the main stage—the big orange tank—detaches and falls back to Earth. At 8:51 a.m. ET, Orion’s solar arrays used to power the spacecraft deploy, which will take approximately 12 minutes.
Orion must then get into position to target the Moon. To do this, there are several maneuvers going on throughout the day that NASA will be watching very closely.
If all goes well, Orion will be on an outbound trip to the moon that will last five days after launch. When it gets there, it has to move into a very specific orbit, which will take another three days.
Finally, 35 days after Orion leaves Earth, the spacecraft will begin its journey home, where it is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on October 10.
After Orion returns home, NASA will evaluate all the systems and tests they conducted along the way in preparation for Artemis II.
Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Joshua Kutrick — one of four Canadian astronauts who may be on the Artemis II mission — were at the Kennedy Space Center before the launch and said the Artemis I mission is just the first step.
“Eventually we’ll go back to the moon, but this time it’s completely different. Not only will we go to a different place, there will be new science, new technology, but we also have our eyes on Mars,” Hansen said.
“This is a testing ground for getting humanity into deep space. These are just the first steps of something much, much bigger.”
Canadian Space Agency astronauts Jeremy Hansen and Josh Kutrick were on hand at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as NASA prepared for its first lunar photo in 50 years. (Turgut Yeter/CBC)
Kutrick was keen to stress that this is not just a US effort.
“It’s not just NASA … it’s a worldwide effort. “It’s NASA that’s leading the world to go out and do these really tough challenges to try to establish — not just the U.S. — but a human presence on the moon and then eventually Mars,” Kutrick said.
“So it’s very different in that regard, and it’s very important in that regard that we move the world forward.”
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