For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM
PLAYALINDA BEACH/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – Due to the impending threat from monster Hurricane Ian approaching the Florida peninsula including the Space Coast NASA officials have decided to roll the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) protective shelter on late Monday evening, Sept. 26.
“NASA made the decision to rollback based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian,” NASA announced Sept. 26.
NASA has implemented a dual decision-making track to try and launch the Artemis 1 Moon rocket before the current window closes on Oct. 4 while also readying the rocket for rollback to the VAB if weather conditions warranted.
The crawler-transporter was driven to the perimeter gates of pad 39B and the crew access arm was moved away from the rocket in anticipation of the decision to save invaluable time since it normally takes about 3 days of preparations before the 32 story tall Artemis 1 stack can be moved
First motion off pad 39B is expected around 11 p.m. EDT, Sept. 26.
Enjoy our photos showing a last look at Artemis 1 atop Launch Complex 39B taken from Playalinda Beach and Canaveral National Seashore Wildlife Refuge around four hours or so before first motion, by Ken Kremer for Space UpClose.
The rollback will likely delay the next launch attempt to either very late October around Halloween or more likely mid-November when the next launch period window reopens and runs from Nov. 12 to 27.
In the end NASA and Space Force managers and the launch team met and decided the weather threat took precedence and decided to save the beautiful $4 Billion Artemis 1 vehicle from the destruction force of Category 4 Hurricane Ian, which could have damaged or destroyed it if left out at the pad.
“Managers met Monday morning [Sept. 26] and made the decision based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian, after additional data gathered overnight did not show improving expected conditions for the Kennedy Space Center area,” NASA managers announced in a blog post.
“The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system. The time of first motion also is based on the best predicted conditions for rollback to meet weather criteria for the move.”
Officials have been closely monitoring the weather in cooperation with other Federal agencies who have the best available data to make the right decision in time.
“NASA has continued to rely on the most up to date information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Space Force, and the National Hurricane Center throughout its evaluations and continues to closely monitor conditions for the Kennedy area.”
NASA will provide a live stream of the rocket and spacecraft on the launch pad as they move back to the VAB from pad 39B.
Managers had been “initiating activities on a non-interference basis to enable an accelerated timeline for rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to protect the rocket, should it be necessary,” NASA said over the weekend.
NASA had been hoping to launch Artemis 1 on Oct. 2 after successfully completing the critical cryogenic tanking test for the Artemis 1 Moon rocket on Wednesday, Sept. 21, after teams encountered another significant hydrogen leak near the start of the loading process engineers and then effectively resolved them in a timely manner at Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
The Artemis 1 launch team was able to fully fuel and load both stages of the Space Launch System (SLS) mega moon rocket with more than 750,000 gallons of super cold liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) cryogenic propellants into all four fuel tanks on the core stage and upper stage.
The cryo loading test was run to verify whether repairs carried out at the pad had actually fixed the dangerous hydrogen leak that scrubbed the prior launch attempt on Sept. 3 rather than doing that work after rolling the integrated SLS and Orion stack back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
Before Hurricane Ian turned into huge storm NASA had been targeting the next potential Artemis 1 launch attempt from Florida’s Space Coast for Sept 27.
A possible back-up date was available on Oct. 2.
However Ian changed all that, wiping out any chance for both opportunities – first on Sept 27 and finally on Oct.2
Specific times for the potential launch opportunities were as follows:
Sept 27: 70-minute launch window opens at 11:37 a.m. EDT; landing on Nov. 5
Oct. 2: 109-minute launch window opens at 2:52 p.m.; landing on Nov. 11.
Those tentative pair of launch dates were completely contingent on two factors: the now successful cryo tanking test and NASA still awaiting on obtaining a waiver to significantly extend the lifetime of the Flight Termination System (FTS) batteries from the U.S. Space Force – and obtaining that FTS waiver was a very big IF!
Ultimately the FTS waiver was granted.
Artemis 1 will be uncrewed and is the first test flight in NASA’s Project Artemis program to return humans to the Moon for the first time in five decades.
For a brief day in early September a darling rocket duo were standing simultaneously vertical at the sister pads Launch Pads 39B and 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida – namely NASA’s Artemis 1 maiden SLS/Orion Mega Moon rocket and SpaceX’s record breaking recycled Falcon 9 rocket hosting a payload of Starlink internet satellites.
NASA’s Artemis 1 SLS/Orion lunar test flight rocket remained at pad 39B following a pair of scrubs from launch attempts on Aug. 29 and Sept. 3.
The Space UpClose team of Ken Kremer and Jean Wright attended and witnessed both SLS/Orion launch attempts and the rollouts and rollbacks from KSC Press Site
Enjoy our photos of SLS/Orion launch attempts at pad 39B and rolling out and back between the VAB and pad 39B.
Read my earlier detailed stories about the launch attempts rollout, rollback and repairs illustrated with our photos
Watch Ken’s commentary about Project Artemis, Capstone, NASA SLS WDR demo test, NASA SpaceX Cargo Dragon, JWST, SpaceX missions including NASA Crew-3 and Crew 4, AX-1, Nilesat 301, Transporter-5, Starlink, Boeing Starliner, and NASA TROPICS 1.
Sep 27: Live interview on Fox 35 Orlando about why NASA rolled the Artemis1 moon rocket stack off pad 39B and back into the VAB as a safe haven from threat of Hurricane Ian approaching central FL and Space Coast and the launch date impact
https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/1123047
Sep 26/27: Watch my interview comments at WFTV ABC News and Fox 35 Orlando about why NASA has decided to roll $4 Billion Artemis1 moon rocket back to VAB protective processing hangar from pad 39B due to Hurricane Ian approaching and the launch date impact
WFTV ABC Orlando: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/brevard-county/nasa-move-artemis-1-rocket-vab-over-hurricane-ian-concerns/X5NFTUGF45DBBFDNCHX7MSYXTE/
Fox 35 Orlando: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/nasa-to-move-artemis-i-rocket-back-to-vehicle-assembly-building-due-to-hurricane-ian
Sep 25: Update on Artemis 1 launch with my live half hour interview on WKMG CBS 6 Orlando with news anchor Justin Warmoth on ‘The Weekly’: “Artemis I: Explaining NASA’s latest repairs and the mission’s greater significance”
Sep 21/22: Watch my Artemis1 comments at WFTV ABC 9 Orlando about NASA’s successfully cryogenic tanking test for Artemis 1 moon rocket and whats ahead
Sep 21/22: Interview with Fox 35 Orlando about NASA’s successfully cryogenic tanking test for Artemis 1 moon rocket and whats ahead
Sep 21: Interview with Fox News MMR local station about NASA’s successfully cryogenic tanking test for Artemis 1 moon rocket and whats ahead
https://twitter.com/FoxNewsMMR/status/1572747493208915969
https://twitter.com/FoxNewsMMR/status/1572747493208915969
Sep 21: Interview with NEWSY about NASA’s plan to conduct a cryogenic tanking test of both stages of Artemis1 SLS Moon rocket on Sep 21 to verify whether repairs to the hydrogen lines and QD seals have stopped the dangerous leaks
Sep 19/20: Interview with Fox 35 Orlando about NASA’s plan to conduct a cryogenic tanking test of both stages of Artemis1 SLS Moon rocket on Sep 21 to verify whether repairs to the hydrogen lines and QD seals have stopped the dangerous leaks
Video: https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/1119798
Watch Ken’s continuing reports about Artemis, SpaceX missions, SLS, Orion and NASA missions, SpaceX Crew and Cargo Dragons, SpaceX Axiom-1, JWST, IXPE, DART, Lucy Asteroid mission, GOES, SpaceX Starlink, Commercial Crew and Starliner and Crew Dragon, Blue Origin and Space Tourism, and onsite for live reporting of upcoming and recent SpaceX and ULA launches including Crew 1 & 2 & 3 & 4, ISS, Solar Orbiter, Mars 2020 Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, NRO spysats and national security missions and more at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
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Oct 2,3 5, 13 from 7 to 9 PM Quality Inn, Titusville, FL: Join Ken and Jean for Artemis 1 and space mission and rocket launch triple header outreach. Ask us anything. plus display our photos and space apparel items for sale
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https://www.fairbanksmuseum.org/blog/eyewitness-to-nasa/
“Eyewitness to NASA Human and Robotic Explorers”
Aug 19: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Concord, NH
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“Sew Sister to the Stars: How the Humble Art of Sewing Transformed the World of Flight”
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