CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Artemis I is ready to fly but not without some risk. Hurricane Nicole last week lashed NASA’s $4.1 billion Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft with 100 mph gusts, but the countdown clock is still on for a launch in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Mission managers briefed reporters saying they had found only low-level damage at KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B and opted to give the green light to attempt liftoff of the uncrewed mission to the moon during a two-hour window that opens at 1:09 a.m.
While none of the hurricane-related issues has proven to be showstoppers, one in particular left managers debating what-if scenarios on launch into Monday. A 10-foot-long strip of silicone caulking called RTV that is less than a 1/4 inch thick was damaged. It’s near the base of Orion capsule near the top of the 322-foot rocket.
“We do not have access to repair this at the pad. It is way up the stack,” said Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin.
The concern is that more could come off on launch and potentially threaten the hardware below Orion, or even cause some drag that might mess up launch parameters.
“It could get out into the air stream and the air stream will essentially slow. It’s like sticking your hand out of a car window as you’re going down the highway,” Sarafin said. “The air is gonna grab it and slow it down and cars still accelerating down the highway. So we need to consider that phenomenon.”
The risk, though, was deemed acceptable to move forward with the launch, which in itself is meant to push the limits of the rocket and spacecraft before NASA ever lets humans get on board.
“There is more risk on this uncrewed flight test as we really stress our systems around the moon and to learn as much as we can about the vehicle,” said Jim Free, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development.
Artemis I looks to send the Orion spacecraft into lunar orbits as far as 280,000 miles from Earth, which is 40,000 miles beyond the moon, a record for a human-rated spacecraft. Orion also aims to break records on re-entry, coming in at 24,500 mph and generating temperatures near 5,000-degrees Fahrenheit before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
If it launches Wednesday, it’s slated to return after 26 days, landing on Dec. 11. There is a backup two-hour launch window on Saturday that opens at 1:45 a.m. and more potential launch days from Nov. 22-27.
NASA had to scrub two previous launch attempts after rolling out to the launch pad in August with liquid hydrogen leaks and other issues, forcing delays. Then the threat of approaching Hurricane Ian led NASA to roll it back to the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
It returned to the launch pad in early November only to have Hurricane Nicole strike and stress the heartiness of the rocket.
“If this were a crewed flight, we would be having the same conversation relative to our readiness to fly crew on the next mission. Do we understand the risk and is the risk acceptable given all the variables in play?” Sarafin said.
Weather is looking good with a 90% chance of favorable conditions, according to the Space Launch Delta 45 weather squadron.
If Artemis I manages a successful launch and landing, it could pave the way for Artemis II, which will send four astronauts on an orbital moon mission as early as May 2024.
That would be followed by Artemis III as early as 2025, which aims to return humans, including the first woman, to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 astronauts left the moon nearly 50 years ago.
“We’ve got to get through this test flight first, and we are going to learn things from it,” Sarafin said.
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