Artemis updates: NASA scrubs 2nd launch attempt, will have to roll back to VAB
NASA lined up a second shot to send its massive Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft on a mission to the moon. Saturday’s attempt, though, fell victim once again to issues during tanking and just like Monday’s attempt ended up being scrubbed.
At an afternoon press conference, the mission management team announced they would be skipping the Monday launch opportunity, and will have to roll it back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Below is the live Artemis I launch updates from Kennedy Space Center leading up to the call.
The Space Launch System rocket looks to become the most powerful rocket to ever launch from Earth using 8.8 million pounds of thrust to propel Orion on a multi-week mission to orbit the moon several times before heading back to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, coming in faster than any previous human-rated spacecraft traveling 24,500 mph producing re-entry temperatures of near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
4:35 p.m. | No launch try on Monday, roll back to VAB likely
NASA’s Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate said no attempt will be made to launch Artemis I on Monday, and will have to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building because of limits on battery checks of its flight termination system, based on a 25-day limit in place with Space Launch Delta 45. That check would have to be done at the VAB.
“We will not be launching in this launch period,” he said.
Richard Tribou
12:42 p.m. | If Artemis has to roll back, mid-October likely next chance to fly, Nelson says
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the mission management team will meet this afternoon to discuss the possibility of staying on the launch pad for a Monday or Tuesday attempt, the last options in this window for the Artemis I moon shot.
“They’re going to look at it. They’re going to see is there still a possibility now or are they going to have to roll back into the Vehicle Assembly Building,” he said. “If they decide that’s the case, then it’ll be an October launch.”
While the next open window runs Sept. 19-Oct. 4, there is a planned SpaceX launch of its Crew Dragon with four passengers headed up to the International Space Station on the Crew-5 mission. That launch is currently slated for no earlier than Oct. 3. So if Artemis passed that window, the next one would run Oct. 17-31.
After that, the windows run Nov. 12-27 and Dec. 9-23. Each window has only certain days during which the Earth and moon are in the right position for the mission.
Richard Tribou
12:32 p.m. | Nelson echoes scrub comments from Monday
Nelson once again explained how the scrub of Saturday’s attempt to launch the Artemis I mission to the moon was a normal part of spaceflight.
“So this is part of the space business. I’ve told you before and you know it’s something I’m accustomed to,” noting that his one mission to space when he was in the U.S. House of Representatives on board Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986 had four scrubs before it finally took off.
“We were delayed over the better part of a month. But the fifth try was an almost flawless six-day mission. So this is part of our space program. Be ready for the scrubs,” he said.
Two missions from the space shuttle program endured six scrubs before finally lifting off on their seventh attempt — STS 73 in 1995 and STS 61-C in 1985.
NASA’s Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate said in July that scrubs were certainly a possibility, noting what NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy would tell her family when they came to see her during her launches when she was an astronaut.
“She said plan a seven-day vacation to Florida, and you might see a launch in there too,” Free said.
Nelson today also praised the mission managers for making the tough calls.
“I’m very proud of the launch team. They do it right. They do it by the book. They do it very professionally,” he said. “That’s why we have had this extraordinary success that we’ve had over the years. Sometimes we make mistakes but we try to minimize those because these are human being lives on the top of that rocket and I can tell you when you strap into that rocket, you are very grateful that you’ve got a launch team like this. that knows what they’re doing and they’re not going to let you go until it’s time.”
The Artemis I flight is uncrewed, but the Artemis II mission looks to send four astronauts to orbit the moon in 2024 followed by Artemis III, a lunar landing mission that could come as early as 2025 that seeks to return humans including the first woman to the moon’s surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo missions in 1972.
Richard Tribou
12:30 p.m. Space Coast spectators pack it up again
After a second cancellation, Artemis spectators were understandably disappointed.
“It’s like the whole thing is cursed,” said Lindy Goodman of Micco, near Sebastian. Goodman was up at 4 a.m. along with her husband, Arnold. The couple traveled with neighbors to Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, arrived at 7:15 a.m. but began packing up their vehicle just after a “no go” was recommended by NASA engineers battling a pesky leak at around 11 a.m.. Despite making the early departure, the group was in good spirits about NASA’s decision.
“I’m disappointed but better safe than sorry,” Arnold said. “Look it’s $4.1 billion every time it goes up. You don’t want it to blow up. It’ll go up when it goes up. You can’t do anything about it. Thankfully we live here in Florida and we’re retired. So you just drive back when it’s ready.”
David, 52, and Janna West, 44, both of North Atlanta had dropped everything Friday night and got on the road.
Traffic was heavy on the way to the Space Coast. The Georgia couple left their home at around noon for an expected seven-hour drive and arrived at a Brevard County hotel at 9:30 p.m. because of traffic congestion.
“We knew this was a possibility,” David said. “Everyone has been so nice. Everyone has the same passion. It makes you forget about your differences. Beautiful place and beautiful weather.”
“We enjoyed our time down,” he added. “We’ll definitely try again if we can. But Monday is an evening launch. Monday would be tough.”
“We’re gonna be big supporters of this no matter what. It’s not gonna dissuade us in the least, he said. “People think you can take something that’s this complicated and this many things that have to go right, you can’t afford to make those kind of mistakes. Naysayers want instant gratification and they don’t understand that thousands of people work on this thing and they want to see it work. And they want to make sure that when people go up in this thing they do it safely. However long that takes, it’ll be worth it.”
Joe Mario Pedersen
11:30 a.m. | Launch attempt scrubbed
Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson has scrubbed the launch attempt for the day after a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak thwarted tanking of the core stage.
“We have a scrub for the day, a cutoff of the launch attempt of Artemis I,” said Derriol Nail with NASA communications after the official 11:17 a.m. decision, which came after NASA engineers recommend a “no go for launch” because of the leak.
The leak was in the quick disconnect of the supply line that feeds the core stage. The LH2 never got higher than 11% — around 60,000 gallons — of the 537,000 gallon capacity as teams concocted plans to deal with the leak.
“There were multiple troubleshooting efforts that were made ... unfortunately those attempts to troubleshoot it did not succeed,” Nail said.
The countdown clock held at 2 hours, 28 minutes and 53 seconds.
It’s uncertain if NASA will be able to try again for its next attempt window on Monday, which also could slip to Tuesday. If it can’t launch before Sept. 6, it has to stand down until at least the next available window with potential dates between Sept. 19-Oct. 4, but that would run up against the planned launch of a SpaceX Dragon for the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station. After that, the windows run from Oct. 17-31, Nov. 12-27 and Dec. 9-23. Each window has only certain days during which the Earth and moon are in the right position for the mission.
Teams are now working to drain the liquid oxygen from the upper part of the core stage, as it had reached 100% capacity — 196,000 gallons — half of which has to be drained before any of the LH2 can be drained from the lower part of the core stage.
The fill line is the same as the drain line, so now “the team is focused and working diligently on the drain conditions,” Nail said.
Richard Tribou
11:11 a.m. | No scrub decision yet
Derriol Nail with NASA communications said Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is conferring with Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin before a decision on whether or not to scrub today’s launch attempt after NASA engineers gave her a “no go” recommendation on launch when they were not able to solve a liquid hydrogen leak during tanking Saturday morning.
“She has received their no go recommendation, but wants to hold off — some additional thoughts and conversations are being developed about the situation and where the rocket stands, and said she will revisit it momentarily,” he said. “Currently we’re in acceptable condition to hold, the launch team has the liquid oxygen in a stop flow configuration safe at this time, and just waiting a decision from the launch director.”
Richard Tribou
10:57 a.m. | NASA engineers recommend ‘no go for launch’
NASA engineers have recommended to Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson that they are “no go for launch,” said Derriol Nail with NASA communications during live commentary.
Derriol said Blackwell-Thompson is conferring before a decision on whether or not to scrub today’s launch attempt.
Richard Tribou
10:31 a.m. | Third failure for fixing liquid hydrogen leak, next steps uncertain
NASA’s attempts to fix a liquid hydrogen leak to the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket saw a third failure when heating up the supply lines did not result in sealing the leak.
It was the same method NASA engineers tried early this morning, which also didn’t work, before an alternative method in which they tried to shoot helium into the lines to increase pressure also didn’t work.
Next steps are uncertain, but the planned launch window that opens at 2:17 p.m. could be in jeopardy.
Richard Tribou
10:16 a.m. | Liquid hydrogen back flowing after retry of warm-up fix
After a third attempt to fix a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak to the core stage, NASA is once again manually flowing the LH2 through the lines in an effort to fill the tank ahead of the opening of the two-hour window at 2:17 p.m.
The leak was discovered shortly after tanking began near sunrise, and NASA managers attempted to heat up the lines for 30 minutes so that when they started flowing the LH2 again at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit that it would “reseat” a bullnose connector into the seal of the quick disconnect line that is attached to the Space Launch System core stage, and fix or diminish the leak.
That didn’t work, so then they tried another shutdown of the flow to add pressure to the line using helium, but that didn’t work either.
So now NASA managers have tried the 30-minute warmup again, and will see if the seal has been improved.
Richard Tribou
10:08 a.m. | Liquid oxygen 100% full
The core stage is now 100% full of its 196,000 gallon capacity. The liquid hyrdrogen fill fell back from 10% as the leak continues to be a problem, at 9% just over 50,000 gallons of its 537,000 gallon capacity.
Richard Tribou
9:57 a.m. | NASA’s Plan C is to try Plan A again for liquid hydrogen while liquid oxygen ‘almost full’
With a continued issue with a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak and two attempts to fix it, the third try to fix it will be to repeat the first attempt.
That means shutting down the LH2 flow for 30 minutes to allow the supply line to heat up, and then hoping that sending the LH2 flow through again will seal the leak.
“So it is in work. They got the go from the launch director to give this another shot,” said Derriol Nail with NASA communications during live commentary. “Again, they’ve got to warm up the connection and then hit it with some cryos, and see if that shakes it enough to get it to reseat that bullnose connector into that seal.”
Meanwhile liquid oxygen is close to being 100% full.
Richard Tribou
9:37 a.m. | NASA pursues ‘Plan C’ to fix reoccurring hydrogen leak
Two hours after a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak was first detected in a a supply line quick disconnect to the Space Launch System rocket, NASA engineers are going to pursue a third attempted fix after the first two failed to solve the problem.
“We’ve been going through a number of troubleshooting steps,” said Nail. “So now we’re waiting next steps.”
Nail said the third troubleshooting plan to fix the 8-inch line that feeds the propellant into the rocket has already had preliminary discussions among NASA and Boeing engineers, but exact details have not been presented yet to the launch director.
As of 9:35 a.m., despite the presence of the leak, NASA has not stopped flowing LH2 into the tank, and is now at 10% filled with more than 51,000 gallons of the 537,000 gallon capacity while liquid oxygen (LOX) is at nearly 170,000 gallons, or 87% of its 196,000 gallons.
It’s the continuation of attempts to fix the leak that showed up at dawn at the 312-foot-tall SLS rocket’s base, and yet another LH2 leak that has been giving NASA headaches throughout the wet dress rehearsals in April and June as well as during this past Monday’s eventual launch scrub.
Richard Tribou
9:23 a.m. | NASA resumes hydrogen flow after pressure fix
A plan to repair a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak that involved shutting down the flow and adding helium to the supply line to fix a seal has been completed, and managers are opening the flow up again.
“They have completed the pressurizing of the line. Now they’re going to slowly restart flow of hydrogen into the tank,“ Nail said.
It’s the continuation of attempts to fix the leak that showed up at dawn at the 312-foot-tall SLS rocket’s base, and yet another LH2 leak that has been giving NASA headaches throughout the wet dress rehearsals in April and June as well as during this past Monday’s eventual launch scrub.
Richard Tribou
9:20 a.m. | Weather looking good for today’s launch
Weather for today’s Artemis I launch is still looking good, though some showers could be headed to Kennedy Space Center.
NASA communications spokesman Derrol Nail said the forecast calls for a 60% chance of good weather when the launch window opens at 2:17 p.m. Those odds increase to 80% as we get closer to the end of the launch window at 4:17 p.m.
Nail said that around 11 a.m., forecasters say, the east coast seabreeze could push some storms into the area near the KSC Launch Complex 39-B, where Artemis is poised for launch.
That seabreeze, however, is expected to push any rain farther west into the Orlando area and away from Artemis as its launch window opens.
That could make watching the launch in the metro area more difficult, but better for the NASA folks at the space center.
Roger SImmons
8:57 a.m. | NASA looks to bring helium to the rescue to address hydrogen leak
After evidence of continued leaking on the liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanking, engineers have been approved by the launch director to stop the flow of the LH2, close the vehicle fill-in drain valve to protect the rocket, and then bring up pressure on the ground transfer line with helium in an attempt to “re-seat” a quick disconnect from the supply side that connects to the SLS rocket.
“This is the plan that they have in place to try and stop a leak which they have seen some indication that it continues to leak when they raise the pressure on the liquid hydrogen,” said Nail.
As of 8:45, the LH2 tanking, which was being done manually, was at 43,500 gallons, or 8%, of the 537,000 gallons while liquid oxygen (LOX) was at more than 111,000 gallons, or 57% of its 196,000 gallons.
Richard Tribou
8:19 a.m. | NASA resumes slow tanking of liquid hydrogen
NASA resumed liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanking at 7:50 a.m., but manually, but as of 8:05 a.m. the tanks had about 10,000 gallons, or 2% of the 537,000 gallons while liquid oxygen (LOX) was at more than 64,000 gallons, or 33% of its 196,000 gallons.
By 8:15, LOX was up to 40% with LH2 up to 4%. NASA engineers reporting that the slow fill of LH2 is going well, but they will continue with manual flow for “a while.”
The LOX load had been slowed as teams worked the LH2 issues because the LOX capacity cannot surpass 50% unless there’s at least 5% of the LH2 in the tank. Full speed flow of the LOX though resumed by 8:15.
The delay in taking has put off some other items planned in the countdown including a planned test at 8 a.m. for the bleed system, the flow of liquid hydrogen to cool the four RS-25 engines at the base of the core stage that is required before liftoff. That test was among issues that forced NASA to scrub Monday’s attempt, but ended up being blamed on a faulty sensor that showed that one of the four engines was not approaching the minus 420 degrees Fahrenheit target. After data analysis, NASA managers determined that all four engines had reached sufficient cooling, and the sensors had been wrong.
Richard Tribou
7:26 a.m. | NASA halts liquid hydrogen tanking again
A new leak has been detected in the engine cavity during liquid hydrogen tanking in the Space Launch System core stage. Teams are troubleshooting by warming up the area, NASA said. It’s the second time NASA has halted LH2 tanking this morning, while also having had to halt the liquid oxygen tanking for a short time.
The halt will take about 30 minutes, which will slow the timeline, with the team updating the launch director with a plan forward. The leak is in something called the plate cavity, which suggests NASA said it is coming from one of the quick disconnect lines, which have proven to be prone to leaks in both the wet dress rehearsals in April and June and last Monday’s launch attempt.
Liquid oxygen loading is still in flow, although a little slower, at 15% full with about 30,000 of the 196,000 gallons needed to fill the tank. NASA has a rule that LOX loading cannot exceed 50% full unless the liquid hydrogen has at least 5% capacity filled.
Richard Tribou
7:07 a.m. Countdown clock resumes
The countdown clock came out from its pre-planned 2 1/2-hour hold at 7:07 a.m. Its next planned hold, a 30-minute hold, is slated to occur when the clock gets to T-10.
Richard Tribou
7:03 a.m. | NASA resumes tanking both LOX and LH2
Both the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flows to the core stage of the Space Launch System have resumed after both experienced some pressure issues.
For the LOX, they’ve got the pump repressurized and stable.
“Minimal impact to the timeline. No impact to the flow rate going forward,” said Nail.
And then the LH2 slow fill was given the OK to start again.
Richard Tribou
6:39 a.m. | NASA halts flow for tanking to work pressure issues
Both the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flows to the core stage of the Space Launch System were halted after each experienced some pressure issues.
The liquid hydrogen loading halted when there was an over-pressure warning on a vent line, that caused it to stop flow automatically.
There was no damage to the hardware, said Nail.
“They’re currently working a manual configuration to get the vent line going again,” he said.
On the liquid oxygen side, he said, “They had chilled down the lines, they were in drain back, there was a pressure measurement reading as well and so they backed off the pumps for the moment, but looking to reactivate those pumps here shortly.”
Richard Tribou
6:25 a.m.: At least twice as many people expected on Space Coast for launch
Officials in Brevard County are expecting perhaps twice as many people for today’s planned Artemis I launch than for Monday’s first attempt.
Brevard County’s Emergency Operations Center is predicting between 200,000 and 400,000 people will come to the Space Coast to witness the historic moon launch. Monday’s crowd estimate was between 100,000 to 200,000.
Why so many more people for Artemis’ second attempt? It’s because of the long Labor Day weekend.
“Hotels are already full ...There’s no school, and fewer people are going to work. It’s possible we will see double what we might have anticipated for the first launch,” said Don Walker, an emergency manager of Brevard County.
The Florida Highway Patrol and Brevard County Sheriff’s Office will be out coordinating with Brevard’s EOC trying to keep traffic flowing, but congestion will happen, Walker said.
“Brevard is 72 miles long and 20 miles wide, there are only a few ways to travel out,” he said. “We understand it’s a historic moment. We’re lucky we can have this happen here for everyone to witness. If you’re living here, we suggest watching from your driveway, but if you’re heading out, anticipate long delays.”
Joe Mario Petersen
6:18 a.m. | Slow fill of liquid hydrogen begins
After several delays in tanking on Monday, NASA decided to adjust the timeline for filling the 733,000 combined gallons of both liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the core stage. Part of that was an earlier flow of the liquid hydrogen into the tank.
The breakdown is 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen kept at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit while liquid oxygen is kept at minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit.
The countdown clock is amid a pre-planned 2 1/2-hour hold at T-6 hours, 40 minutes. The clock will resume at 7:07 a.m.
“Launch team discussing a couple of issues,” said Derriol Nail, with NASA communications during live commentary that began this morning at NASA.gov/live.
6:00 a.m. | NASA is go to start loading cryogenic fuel
NASA is avoiding the weather headaches it saw the first time it tried to load the Space Launch System from cryogenic fuel on Monday as the risk of lightning is only 10% for the start of tanking of super-chilled liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
Lightning risk above 20% would have halted the start of tanking, like it did on Monday for nearly an hour, part of NASA’s hurdles that eventually led teams to scrub.
For today’s leadup to launch though, Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave the “go” for tanking at 5:36 a.m. after a weather briefing with Space Launch Delta 45′s weather officer Mark Burger.
“He said we are green on weather for tanking,” said Nail, with NASA communications during live commentary that began this morning at NASA.gov/live.
The teams have been given the go to begin loading of the liquid oxygen, which will start with a slow fill before switching to fast fill. That flows into the upper part of the core stage, and then the larger lower part of the core stage will begin slow fill of liquid hydrogen. The new timeline, though, has liquid hydrogen flow starting earlier to give teams more time to deal with problems that might arise, as it did on Monday.
See the timeline for tanking and other operations leading up to the beginning of the two-hour launch window at 2:17 p.m.
Richard Tribou
5:43 a.m. | NASA hopes for smooth countdown today
For Artemis I, NASA officials are hopeful the second time is the charm as they attempt to launch the massive rocket to the moon this afternoon at Kennedy Space Center’s launchpad 39-B. The two-hour launch window opens at 2:17 p.m. today.
After an issue with one of the rocket’s engines caused a scrub of Monday’s planned launch, NASA engineers spent a lot of time going over data gathered during the countdown.
They found that inaccurate sensor readings in the troublesome Artemis engine was to blame for the scrub. Although there were several issues during the countdown that caused stress on the launch teams, the false reading was that one of the four RS-25 engines at the base of the Space Launch System rocket core stage had not cooled enough for a safe launch.
Roger Simmons
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