The Artemis 1 moon rocket weathered a powerful storm that hit its Florida spaceport today.
Nicole was a Category 1 storm when it slammed into Florida's Space Coast on Thursday morning. The Artemis 1 vehicle was damaged by Nicole's wind and rain at the Kennedy Space Center.
According to NASA officials, the Artemis 1 stack seems to have made it through the experience unscathed.
"Our team is conducting initial visual checkouts of the rocket, spacecraft and ground system equipment with the cameras at the launch pad," said Jim Free, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington.
There are small damage such as loose caulk and tears in the weather coverings. Soon, the team will conduct additional walk down inspections of the vehicle.
Related: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updates
More: 10 wild facts about the Artemis 1 moon mission
During Nicole's passage, the wind gusts at Pad 39B were recorded at an altitude of 18 meters.
The wind speeds are within the capabilities of the rocket. The vehicle is expected to be cleared for those conditions soon.
NASA officials said in a statement that SLS is designed to handle winds up to 85 mph.
Artemis 1 will send a person to the moon. The mission will be launched by NASA as early as Wednesday. Free didn't mention the schedule or any possible changes to it, so we don't know if Nicole has changed that.
Artemis 1 has been kept on the ground longer by the weather. The mission was supposed to fly in late September, but NASA rolled SLS and Orion off Pad 39B and back to the Vehicle Assembly Building in case of a storm.
On November 4th, Artemis 1 came back out to the pad. The planned launch was pushed back by two days. Mission team members decided to keep the rocket on the pad through the storm, which grew to be considerably stronger than expected.
Artemis 1 is the first mission in the Artemis program.
If Artemis 1 is a success, Artemis 2 will launch astronauts on a mission to the moon. If current schedules hold, Artemis 3 will put boots down near the lunar south pole in 25 or 30 years.
A book about the search for alien life was written by Mike Wall. You can follow him on the social networking site. We encourage you to follow us on social media:
All Rights Reserved © 2024
