Reuters
Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman
Content of the article
CAPE CANAVERAL — Ground teams at the Kennedy Space Center prepared Saturday for a second attempt to launch NASA’s towering next-generation moon rocket on its first flight, hoping to have fixed mechanical problems that prevented the original countdown five days earlier. The 32-story Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule were scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:17 p.m. years after the last Apollo lunar mission. (Graphic:
Advertisement 2
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Top financial post stories
Sign up to receive daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for subscribing!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, check your spam folder. The next issue of Financial Post Top Stories will be in your inbox soon. We encountered a problem with your registration. PLEASE try again
Content of the article
The previous launch bid on Monday ended with technical problems that forced the countdown to stop and the uncrewed flight to be postponed. Tests showed technicians have since fixed a leaking fuel line that contributed to Monday’s aborted launch, Jeremy Parsons, deputy program manager at the space center, told reporters Friday. Two other key issues with the rocket itself — a faulty engine temperature sensor and some cracks in the insulation foam — have been resolved to NASA’s satisfaction, Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin told reporters Thursday night. Weather is always an additional factor beyond NASA’s control. The latest forecast called for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions during Saturday’s two-hour launch window, according to the US space force at Cape Canaveral.
Advertising 3
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
If the countdown clock stopped again, NASA could reschedule another launch attempt for Monday or Tuesday. Named Artemis I, the mission marks the first flight for both the SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, built under NASA contracts with Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp, respectively. It also marks a major shift in direction for NASA’s post-Apollo human spaceflight program, after decades focused on low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station. Named after the goddess who was the twin sister of Apollo in ancient Greek mythology, Artemis aims to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon as early as 2025. Twelve astronauts walked on the moon during six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, the only space flights that have yet placed humans on the lunar surface. But Apollo, born out of the US-Soviet space race during the Cold War, was less scientific than Artemis.
Advertising 4
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
The new moon program has enlisted commercial partners such as SpaceX and the space agencies of Europe, Canada and Japan to eventually create a long-term lunar base of operations as a stepping stone for even more ambitious human journeys to Mars. Getting the SLS-Orion spacecraft off the ground is a key first step. Its maiden voyage is intended to put the 5.75 million-pound vehicle through a rigorous test flight that pushes its design limits and hopefully proves the spacecraft is fit to carry astronauts. If the mission succeeds, a crewed Artemis II flight around the moon and back could come as early as 2024, followed within a few years by the first landing of astronauts, one of them a woman, on Artemis III.
Advertising 5
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Billed as the world’s most powerful, complex rocket, SLS represents the largest new vertical launch system the US space agency has built since the Apollo-era Saturn V. Barring last-minute difficulties, Saturday’s countdown should end with the rocket’s four R-25 main engines and two solid rocket boosters firing to produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust, about 15 percent more thrust to the Saturn V, sending the spacecraft hurtling skyward. About 90 minutes after launch, the rocket’s upper stage will push Orion out of Earth orbit on course for a 37-day flight that brings it within 60 miles of the Moon’s surface before traveling 40,000 miles (64,374 km) beyond from the moon and back to Earth. The capsule is expected to launch into the Pacific on October 11.
Advertisement 6
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Although there will be no humans, Orion will carry a simulated crew of three – one male and two female mannequins – equipped with sensors to measure radiation levels and other stresses that real astronauts would experience. A top goal of the mission is to test the durability of Orion’s heat shield during reentry as it slams into Earth’s atmosphere at 24,500 miles (39,429 km) per hour, or 32 times the speed of sound, on its return from lunar orbit. – much faster than the more common capsule re-entries returning from Earth orbit. The heat shield is designed to withstand reentry friction that is expected to raise temperatures outside the capsule to nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 Celsius). More than a decade in development with years of delays and budget overruns, the SLS-Orion spacecraft has so far cost NASA at least $37 billion, including design, construction, testing and ground facilities. NASA’s Office of Inspector General has projected that the total cost of Artemis will reach $93 billion by 2025. NASA defends the program as a boon to space exploration that has created tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in commerce. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Share this article on your social network
Advertising
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask that you keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications—you’ll now receive an email if you get a reply to your comment, there’s an update on a comment thread you’re following, or if a user follows the comments. Visit the Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
