The SLS likely wouldn't have made it off the ground if it weren't for the heroics of three members of NASA's Red Crew.

There was a hydrogen leak during the launch. The crew went into the launch zone to fix it. In spite of their heroics, keen-eyed observers noticed something odd about the Red Crew: they don't wear red.

Chris Combs, a professor at the University of Texas San Antonio, said that they couldn't get some red shirts for the Red Team because they couldn't afford them.

The rumor is correct. The Red Crew-mates wore dark blue shirts instead of the red shirts that were out of the budget this year. The NYT reported that they drove white cars.

A leftover from last night that’s still bothering me:

how is it we spent $20B+ on this rocket but we couldn’t manage to get some RED SHIRTS for the Red Team pic.twitter.com/FO10Y6mg3H

— Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) November 16, 2022

Packing Nuts

The Red Crew didn't seem to care at all. During a post-launch interview on NASA TV, they said they were focused on getting the packing nuts loosened. It's because of the risk of dying.

Trent Annis told NASA TV that the Red Crew was very excited. I was ready to leave.

He said that they were focused on what was going on up there. It's creaking, it's making noises, and it's pretty frightening.

I would like to give a shout out to the Red Crew. If they hadn't risked it all, the liftoff wouldn't have happened. At the very least they should get a bonus. There are some new t-shirts.

The launch team called in the'red crew' when the moon rocket sprung a fuel leak. The New York Times is published by The New York Times Company.

Giant Nasa rocket blasts off toward the moon.