After leaving its launch pad for safety, NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket encountered a bit of drama after arriving at its shelter site.
Mission team members rolled the Artemis 1 stack from Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Launch Pad 39B to the facility's huge Vehicle Assembly Building to protect the valuable hardware from Hurricane Ian.
The trip to the VAB took about 10 hours. Today is Saturday, September 27th. There was a small fire inside the building 2.5 hours later. There are no reports of injuries. The VAB is safe and the Artemis 1 vehicle was not at risk.
More about the Artemis 1 moon mission can be found here.
Janet Petro gave a few more details during the news conference.
She said it was a 40-volt electrical panel on the wall that caught fire. She said that the fire never got close to Artemis 1.
The SLS rocket will be used to launch the uncrewed capsule to the moon. The mission was supposed to be launched today, but the threat of Hurricane Ian made that impossible.
While the mission team rides out the storm in the VAB, they will do some work on the Artemis 1 stack. It's too early to say if a liftoff before November is possible.
Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission directorate, said during today's briefing that it would be difficult to launch in October.
The first mission of NASA's Artemis program will be launched by the SLS. Artemis 2 will send astronauts to the moon in 2024 and Artemis 3 will put boots on the ground near the south pole a year or so later.
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