NASA is counting on Saturday’s launch of its New Moon rocket, its second attempt in a week
NASA is counting on Saturday’s launch of its New Moon rocket, its second attempt in a week
NASA is aiming for a Saturday launch of its new Moon rocket, after fixing fuel leaks and working around a bad engine sensor that failed the first attempt.
The inaugural flight of the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket – the most powerful ever built by NASA – came late on Monday’s countdown. Kennedy Space Center’s clocks started ticking again as managers expressed confidence in their plan and forecasters gave the prospect of favorable weather.
Atop the rocket is a crew capsule with three test dummies that will fly around the Moon and return over the course of six weeks – NASA’s first such effort since the Apollo program 50 years ago. NASA wants to get the spacecraft out before tying up the astronauts on the next planned flight in two years.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he is more confident in this second launch attempt, noting that engineers have learned everything from the first try.
So is astronaut Jessica Meir, who is on NASA’s short list for one of the early Moon crews.
“We’re all excited for it, but the most important thing is that when we’re ready we go and we do it right, because the next mission will have humans. Maybe me, maybe my friends,” Meir told The Associated Press on Friday.
Engineers in charge of the Space Launch System rocket insisted Thursday evening that all four of the rocket’s main engines were good and that a faulty temperature sensor had caused one of them to appear as if it was very hot on Monday. The engines must be matched to minus -420 °F (minus-250 °C) of liquid hydrogen fuel at liftoff, otherwise they may be damaged and stalled in flight.
“We have assured ourselves without a doubt that we have good quality liquid hydrogen going through the engines,” said John Honeycutt, the rocket’s program manager.
After refueling on Saturday morning, the launch team will conduct another engine test – this time in the first countdown. Honeycutt told reporters, even if he suspects sensors indicate that an engine is too hot, other sensors can be relied upon to make sure everything is working correctly and to stop the countdown. For.
NASA could not conduct that kind of engine test during dress rehearsals earlier this year because of a fuel leak. More fuel leaks surfaced on Monday; Technicians found some loose connections and tightened them.
Engine-temperature conditions add to the flight risk, as does another problem that emerged Monday: cracks in the rocket’s foam insulation. If pieces of foam break off at liftoff, they can hit the strap-on boosters and damage them. Engineers consider the likelihood of this happening as low and have accepted these minor additional risks.
“It’s an extremely complex machine and system. Millions of parts,” NASA chief Nelson told the AP. “Actually, there are risks. But are those risks acceptable? I leave it to the experts. My role is to remind them that you don’t take a risk that doesn’t amount to an acceptable risk.”
The $4.1 billion test flight is NASA’s first step in sending astronauts around the Moon in 2024 and landing them on the surface in 2025. Astronauts last walked on the Moon in 1972.