Submitted by Pluto_and_Charon t3_ywf5tr in space
This is the official r/Space megathread for the launch of Artemis I
Today at 1:04 am EST, NASA will conduct the first launch of the most powerful rocket in the world, the SLS, as part of the Artemis I mission. The goal of today's test flight is to send the uncrewed Orion capsule to the orbit of the Moon. The rocket is also carrying along several small satellites designed for lunar and asteroid science. In around a month's time, the Orion capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean and the mission will conclude.
This is the third launch attempt for Artemis I, after the first and second attempts a few weeks ago encountered problems with fueling the rocket and the engines. NASA has devised a plan involving slower fueling of the rocket so that hopefully, we get a successful launch today. Third time's the charm!
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- Fueling of the rocket began at 3:30 pm EST and is livestreamed here, with audio from the operations team
- 🚀 NASA's official livestream of the launch begins at 10:30 pm EST - link to livestream
Live updates:
T-4:00 hrs: Fueling has proceeded very well so far, they are 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The core stage is fully loaded.
T-3:00 hrs: Weather is 90% favourable
T-2:35 hrs: Fueling of the hydrogen tank has encountered a leaky valve, so they've paused fueling to assess - https://twitter.com/NASAGroundSys/status/1592706802621485057
T-HOLD: They're sending out two technicians with a safety lead to the pad to torque packing nuts around the valve, will take about 15 mins
T-HOLD: Image of the 'red crew' doing their work!
T-???: Valve flow is resumed! But the range have lost radio contact with "a critical RADAR system" so are currently no-go for launch, working on re-establishing contact...?
T-56:00: Back to core stage topping for liquid hydrogen tank -good! but the range: bad ethernet switch was causing issues, working to change it out (70 minutes...)
T-15:00: Upper stage H2 now 75% full. In 10 minutes, will hold for half an hour, team trying to figure out how long delays with affect launch time + waiting for range... Ethernet connection now replaced but gotta test the new one works.
T-10:00: ARTEMIS IS GO FOR LAUNCH, in 10 mins time (1:51 am)
T-00:00: LAUNCH
T+00:24: All solar arrays on Orion have deployed
T+01:46: TransLunar Injection Burn complete, we are on our way to the Moon
T+01:51: Orion has seperated from the ICPS
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