(CNN) — The Artemis I mission uncrewed is battling fueling issues as it prepares for a second chance to launch on a historic voyage around the Moon.
Shortly before 5:00 am ET, mission managers received weather information and decided to continue fueling the rocket. The countdown clock resumed at 7:07 am ET.
There is currently a 30 minute delay due to a liquid hydrogen leak detected in the quick disconnect cavity that feeds the rocket with hydrogen in the core stage engine section. They stopped the flow of liquid hydrogen, “closed the valve used to fill and drain it, then increased the pressure in a ground transfer line using helium to try to reseal it,” according to NASA.
That troubleshooting plan was unsuccessful and the team is now evaluating a third plan.
The launch window opens at 2:17 pm ET and closes at 4:17 pm ET on Saturday. Live coverage from NASA began at 5:45 a.m. ET. on your website and television channel.
This process has delayed the team, but it is not clear how much delay it will cause in the countdown because it is possible that they can recover some time later.
Meanwhile, liquid oxygen continues to flow slowly into the core stage. Both propellants must be filled within certain proportions to each other.
Currently, weather conditions are 60% favorable during the launch window, according to Meteorologist Melody Lovin, who predicts that the weather will not be an “obstacle” for the launch.
The Artemis I stack, which includes the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft, remains on Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Artemis I mission is just the beginning of a program that aims to return humans to the moon and, eventually, landing manned missions on Mars.
If the mission succeeds in launching on Saturday, it will make a trip around the Moon and splash down in the Pacific Ocean on October 11. In case it is not achieved, the Artemis I mission could also launch on September 5.
In recent days, the launch team has taken time to address issues, such as hydrogen leaks, that have surfaced ahead of Monday’s planned launch. The team also completed a risk assessment of an engine conditioning issue and a foam crack that also surfaced, according to NASA officials.
Both are considered acceptable risks ahead of the launch countdown, according to Mike Sarafin, manager of the Artemis mission. On Monday, a sensor on one of the rocket’s four RS-25 engines, identified as Engine No. 3, showed that the engine was unable to reach the proper temperature range required for the engine to start at liftoff.
The engines must be thermally conditioned before supercooled propellant flows through them prior to takeoff. To prevent the engines from experiencing temperature shocks, launch controllers increase the pressure of the core-stage liquid hydrogen tank to send some of the liquid hydrogen to the engines. This is known as “purging”.
The team has since determined that it was a faulty sensor that provided the reading and they plan to ignore the faulty sensor in the future, according to John Blevins, chief engineer at Space Launch Systems.
The purge, expected to occur around 8:00 a.m. ET, is currently on hold while engineers address the hydrogen leak issue.
After the launch of Artemis I, Orion’s journey will last 37 days as it travels to the Moon, around it and back to Earth, traveling a total of 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers).
The Artemis Mission 1
After the launch of Artemis I, Orion’s journey will last 37 days as it travels to the Moon, around it and back to Earth, traveling a total of 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles).
While the passenger list doesn’t include humans, it does have passengers: three mannequins and a stuffed Snoopy will travel on Orion.
The crew aboard the Artemis I may sound a bit unusual, but each one has a purpose. Snoopy will serve as a zero gravity indicator, meaning that she will begin to float inside the capsule once she reaches the space environment.
the mannequins, called Commander Moonikin Campos, Helga and ZoharThey will measure deep space radiation that future crews might experience and test new suits and protective technologies. A biology experiment carrying seeds, algae, fungi and yeasts is also inside Orion to measure how life reacts to this radiation.
Additionally, they mounted science experiments and technology demonstrations also in a ring on the rocket. From there, 10 small satellites, called CubeSats, will split up and go their separate ways to gather information about the moon and the deep space environment.
Cameras on and off Orion will share images and video throughout the mission, including live views of the Callisto experiment, which will capture a sequence of a mannequin called Commander Moonikin Campos sitting in the commander’s seat. If you have an Amazon Alexa-enabled device, you can ask it for the location of the mission every day.
Expect to see views of Earth similar to those first shared during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, but with better quality cameras and technology.
The inaugural mission of the Artemis program will launch a phase of NASA’s space exploration intended to land diverse crews of astronauts in previously unexplored regions of the Moon, on the Artemis II and Artemis III missions, scheduled for 2024 and 2025 respectively. and will eventually carry manned missions to Mars.