NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Wednesday morning, Nov. 16, 2022, as seen from Harbor town Marina on Merritt Island, Fla. The moon is visible in the sky. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)NASA Artemis-I Launch Live: After multiple issues popped up during tanking operations, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission launched from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12.17 PM IST on November 16.
Around eight minutes after launch, the core stage engines cut off and the core stage separated from the rest of the rocket. After this, the Orion spacecraft was propelled by the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). NASA also deployed the Orion spacecraft’s four solar arrays. After completing “translunar injection,” Orion separated itself from ICPS and is now on its way to the lunar orbit.
The Artemis 1 mission was earlier scheduled to launch on November 14 but it had to be postponed because of tropical storm Nicole. The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft were left at the launch complex to weather the storm and suffered slight damage due to it. The space agency’s previous attempts to launch the Artemis 1 mission had to be cancelled due to various issues with the new rocket and spacecraft. The first launch attempt had to be scrubbed due to an engine bleed issue with one of the core stage’s RS-25 engines, while the second launch attempt had to be scrubbed because of a hydrogen leak.
NASA’s launch of the SLS rocket from launch complex 39-B of the Kennedy Space Center as pictured from Sebastian, Florida.
In this image taken from Sebastian, Florida, NASA’s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) can be seen taking off with the Orion crew capsule from launch complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center
After completing the “translunar injection” burn with the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), Orion has been put on the path towards the Moon. NASA has confirmed that the spacecraft has separated from ICPS.
The Orion spacecraft completed the perigee raise manoeuvre (PRM) where it fired its ICPS RL-10 engine to raise the lower point of the spacecraft’s orbit (perigee). During PRM, Orion swept its solar arrays back to make sure they don’t sustain any load. The PRM prepares Orion for “trans-lunar injection,” where the spacecraft will put itself on a path to the Moon.
NASA finally gets it right and the Artemis 1 mission's SLS rocket lifted off successfully from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Find out everything that happened during the mission from the beginning of tanking operations at 2 AM IST to launch at 12.17 PM IST.
NASA said it deployed all four solar arrays on the Orion spacecraft. These will provide the power that Orion requires to leave the lunar orbit and make its way back to Earth.
Eight minutes into flight, the SLS rocket’s core stage main engines cut off successfully. Then, the Orion spacecraftand the upper stage (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) separated from the core stage.
The Artemis 1 mission’s SLS rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre at 12.17 PM IST (1.47 AM EST) on November 16. The successful launch came at the end of a series of technical issues faced by the launch team. All stages of the rocket began using internal power at 12.16 before the rocket’s engines fired for launch.
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NASA’s launch team confirmed that it is ready for launch and the launch director completed the final poll, clearing the way for launch. The launch director gave a “go” to resume the countdown and launch the Artemis 1 mission. The mission is now scheduled to launch at 1.47 AM EST. (12.18 PM IST)
The launch team is studying a new issue with the caulk (sealant between the Orion spacecraft and the panels that come off to reveal solar panels. The launch team observed that this caulk is loose and that it could potentially come off.
This is the same issue that was earlier discovered after the Artemis 1 stack weathered Hurricane Nicole. But the mission management team concluded that this presents no additional risk. According to the engineers, the sealant is a loose and pliable material that is unlikely to cause much damage in case it does come off during launch. While NASA is stil yet to confirm exactly when the mission will launch, it said the launch will happen no earlier than 12.15 PM IST. (1.45 AM EST)
The Eastern Range confirmed to the launch director that their work on the bad ethernet switch is complete. They are now going to conduct “open loop” tests, which will test the range’s ability to send a destruct signal to the rocket in the case that the rocket goes off-course, endangering the public.
Read this explained article to understand why the Artemis program promises to herald in a new space age.
A U.S. Space Force Eastern Range officer reported to NASA’s launch director that the faulty ethernet switch that they came across has been dealt with. This malfunctioning system stopped engineers from receiving data from a radar site that was critical to the mission’s flight termination system. At this point, it is unlikely that the mission will launch at 11.34 IST but NASA is yet to confirm how much of a delay should be expected. The launch countdown has been held at T (minus) 10 minutes for a pre-planned hold.
The upper stage is currently in liquid hydrogen fast-fill and is currently at 58 per cent filled. The core stage, in the meanwhile, is in liquid hydrogen replenish mode. Both core stage and upper stage liquid oxygen tanks are in stable replenish mode. Range is currently working on fixing the issue with ethernet equipment.
Image credit: NASA TV / YouTube screenshot
The core stage’s liquid hydrogen is once again back in replenish mode after the leak was fixed. The Range safety officer reported to the test director that the problem they flagged earlier was due to a bad ethernet switch. The team is currently working on changing out the switch and “reverifying” it. According to launch control, this work should take around 70 minutes.
NASA’s Range Flight Safety team has informed the launch director that one of their assets required for launch is down. Meanwhile, the liquid hydrogen replenish valve has been repaired and flow to the core stage’s liquid hydrogen tank has resumed. The team is concurrently working on configuring the upper stage to resume its fuelling.
Since the liquid hydrogen tank was put into stop-flow due to the leak, it also stopped the 90-minute liquid hydrogen engine bleed. After discussions, NASA teams have come to the conclusion that only a 45-minute bleed is required at this point and said that continuing the bleed from now would be enough to meet launch requirements.
The red crew has completed their work tightening bolts on the leaky hydrogen valve in the mobile launcher. They have left the launchpad area.
The red crew team members are still at the mobile launcher where they are tightening bolts on the leaky hydrogen valve. Even though the team said it would take 15 minutes to complete the work, it seems like it will take longer than that.
The red crew is tightening the bolts and then backing out of the area so that the launch team can cycle the valves to make sure the bolts are secured. This will happen repeatedly until the issue is confirmed fixed. It is expected that this work could eat into the launch window, which begins at 11.34 AM IST.
As the red crew works on fixing the leaky hydrogen replenish valve on the mobile launcher, the weather remains favourable for the mission. There are some clouds in the launch area but they are either too thin or too high up in the atmosphere to cause concern currently.