NASA’s next attempt to launch its new megarocket on a test flight to the moon could lift off by Sept. 23, but only if the agency fixes a leak and receives a critical waiver from the U.S. Space Force.
Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, said today (Sept. 8) that NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission launch — the debut of its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket — could lift off on Sept. 23 or Sept. 27. Those launch dates depend on a number of requirements, including NASA securing a waiver to extend the time needed to check batteries on the SLS’ flight termination system (FTS), which is designed to destroy the rocket if it veers off course during launch.
The U.S. Space Force, which oversees the Eastern Range used for Florida rocket launches, requires NASA to test the FTS every 25 days, a process that requires the 322-foot-tall (98 meters) rocket to leave the launch pad and roll back to its hangar. Extending that time frame could allow NASA to avoid weeks of additional delay that would push the Artemis 1 launch into October.
Free said Artemis 1 mission managers submitted a waiver request to the Eastern Range this week. “After meeting with us several times, they’ve been very gracious and understanding of what we’re trying to do,” he said in a teleconference today. “Our job is to live to their requirements. That is their range. And it’s our job to comply with their requirements.”
Free did not reveal how long of an extension NASA is seeking. The agency already had secured one such FTS waiver, pushing the limit from 20 to 25 days.
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Launch waivers and fuel leaks
Artemis 1 is NASA’s first mission of the Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon by 2025. It is an uncrewed flight that will test the SLS megarocket and its Orion spacecraft to verify that both are ready to fly astronauts. The first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis 2, will fly astronauts around the moon in 2024, with the Artemis 3 crewed landing to follow a year later. All of that depends on a successful test flight of Artemis 1.
Even with the FTS test waiver, NASA has its hands full trying to get Artemis 1 ready for what will be its third launch attempt. NASA first tried to launch the mission on Aug. 29 but stood down due to an engine cooling issue that was traced to a bad sensor. A persistent liquid hydrogen leak that beat three attempted fixes led to…
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