Hurricane Ian barreled its way through Florida, and amid the destruction and mayhem, one historic event fell victim to its onslaught: the crewless Artemis 1 launch, which had been scheduled on Tuesday.
The powerful storm that battered Florida forced NASA to roll Artemis 1 off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and back into the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) early this week, Space.com reported.
Ian hit Kennedy Space center on Thursday (Sept. 29) as a tropical storm, and the sprawling center seems to have weathered the hurricane well. After the hurricane left the area, NASA conducted inspections to determine possible damages and map put a plan for the next launch attempt.
No Damages Found in Artemis 1 Stack
It was found that the facility experienced minimal water intrusion in a some areas in the complex and the Artemis 1 stack - a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion capsule on top of it - suffered no damage, NASA officials said in an update.
The team, however, will need to replace such 'limited life' items in SLS, such as the core stage flight termination system batteries, and also retest the system to ensure it can terminate the flight if an emergency occurs during the next launch.
The Boeing-made SLS core stage stands 212 feet (64.6 meters) tall and measures 27.6 feet (8.4 meters) wide.
NASA Eyes November Launch Date
NASA is now eyeing a launch between Nov. 12 and Nov. 27, though a target date within that window has not yet been identified.
NASA officials said the November launch time frame allows employees at Kennedy "to address the needs of their families and homes after the storm and for (NASA) teams to "identify additional checkouts needed before returning to the pad for launch."
Work at the Vertical Assembly Building will focus on Artemis 1's flight termination system (FTS), which is intended dto destroy the rocket if it veers off course during launch.
The U.S. Space Force, which manages the Eastern Range of rocket launches, originally certified Artemis 1's FTS for 20 days since its original scheduled launch on Aug. 29. Technical issues caused the planned liftoff to be pushed back to Sept. 27, and NASA secured further FTS extensions from the Space Force up to early October.
But now that Artemis 1 has been brought back to the VAB, the Artemis 1 team needs to retest the FTS, NASA officials added. The Space Force will the reissue its certification, instead of merely extending its original document through waivers.
Artemis 1 is the first mission of NASA's Artemis program, which seeks to establishpermanent human presence on the moon by the end of the 2020s.
Artemis 1 is set to send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a long journey to lunar orbit and back. Artemis 2 will launch astronauts around the moon in 2024, and Artemis 3 will land a crew near the lunar south pole in 2025 or 2026.
