The Artemis 1 moon rocket is ready for its big moment next week but Mother Nature may keep it grounded for a while longer.
Even though a big storm is about to hit the Caribbean, the space agency is still targeting the launch of Artemis 1 on Tuesday. The space coast may be in the sights of that storm.
The first flight of NASA's Artemis program will use a space launch system rocket to send an uncrewed capsule to the moon. There were two attempts by NASA to launch the SLS mission, the first of which was a leak of liquid hydrogen propellant at the mobile launch tower.
More about the Artemis 1 moon mission can be found here.
NASA officials said that the leak has been fixed after a successful fuel loading test.
Brad McCain, vice president and general manager at the Jacobs Space Operations Group, the prime contractor for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems Program at the Kennedy Space Center, said during a call with reporters that it was a great day.
McCain said that the team was ready to proceed with the next attempt.
The Artemis 1 team has been granted a Waiver from the U.S. Space Force, which oversees the Eastern Range of rocket launches.
If the SLS goes off course it will be destroyed by the FTS. The system was certified for a period of 25 days. The backup opportunity of October 2 has been approved by the Space Force.
After an earlier extension from 20 to 25 days, the FTS Waiver is a big deal. If the Space Force refused to issue it, Artemis 1 would have had to go back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Artemis 1 might have to return to the VAB to take shelter from a storm. A maelstrom called Tropical Depression 9 is gathering strength in the Caribbean, and it could end up heading towards the Kingdom.
"Our plan is to stay the course and get the launch off on September 27," said Mike Bolger, the Exploration Ground Systems program manager. We would need a couple of days to pivot from our current tanking test or launch configuration to get back into the protection of the VAB.
The mission team is keeping a close eye on the weather and will make a decision on their plans this evening. He said that a decision about remaining on the pad or rolling back would be made no later than tomorrow morning.
Artemis 1 can stay at the launch pad as long as the winds don't top 74 knots. It is possible to roll to the VAB through sustained winds of up to 40 knots (46 mph or 74 kph).
If Artemis 1 rolls back to the VAB in the next few days, the team will be able to do some work on the vehicle, such as replacing the battery. If the mission misses the Sept. 27 launch window, the backup date of October 2 would be out of play.
The coming liftoff has some other issues. It will have to be good on launch day. The Crew-5 mission for NASA will be launched from the neighboring KSC Launch Pad 39A. We will have to wait and see how it goes.
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