Countdown now underway for NASA's Artemis I mega moon rocket launch

Emre Kelly, Florida Today
·3 min read
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Update (Tuesday, Aug. 30): NASA is now targeting no earlier than Saturday, Sept. 3, for the next attempt at launching SLS on Artemis I. The two-hour window opens at 2:17 p.m. EDT. Read our full preview story here.

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Update: Scrub! No Artemis I launch today due to technical issues with the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center. The next opportunity to fly is Friday, Sept. 2, but only if the technical issues can be resolved in time. Stay tuned at floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

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Launch teams overseeing NASA's high-profile launch to the moon next week arrived at their consoles early Saturday, kicking off a whopping 46-hour countdown process at Kennedy Space Center.

At 9:53 a.m. EDT, or T-minus 46 hours and 40 minutes, clocks around the spaceport began counting down to the premiere of the agency's Space Launch System rocket on a mission known as Artemis I. Launch from pad 39B is set for 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday.

"We're not going to promise that we could get off on Monday," Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, told reporters during a pre-launch news conference at KSC. "We could have weather, we could have technical issues, or we could have a range and public-safety hold."

"But we do feel good about our attempt on Monday in terms of our overall setup," Sarafin said.

The next major management meeting, set for 10:50 p.m. EDT Saturday, will include updates on the overall countdown process and readiness for loading the 322-foot rocket with liquid oxygen and hydrogen. Fueling should start just after midnight on Monday.

Weather, according to the latest Space Force briefing, remains steady at 70% "go." Weekend storms are expected to diminish into Monday, but there are still concerns related to rocket-triggered lightning, cumulus clouds, and rain.

Space Force:  Weather looks OK for NASA's Artemis I launch to the moon

Artemis : NASA's huge Artemis launch: It's going to be loud, but how loud? That depends

"The weather looks pretty decent," said Melody Lovin, a launch weather officer at the Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45. "The main concerns will be those offshore showers and possibly a few thunderstorms as well."

Monday's Artemis I test flight will take an uncrewed Orion capsule on a 42-day trip to the moon and back. If it goes according to plan, an Artemis II mission will do roughly the same but with astronauts. Then, Artemis III aims to put two astronauts on the lunar surface sometime after 2025.

Artemis I's main priority: testing Orion's new heat shield as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere at a whopping 25,000 mph. The capsule will have to survive the fiery descent during the process that will likely become one of the fastest re-entries to date.

"This is something that has not been done in over 50 years and is incredibly difficult," Sarafin said. "We will learn a great deal from the Artemis I test flight and, through this experience, change and modify anything necessary."

In the event of a delay caused by weather technical issues, NASA has two backup opportunities: Sept. 2 at 12:48 p.m. and Sept. 5 at 5:12 p.m. EDT. Beyond that, teams will need to roll the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for testing before returning to the pad for future attempts no earlier than late September.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

Launch Monday, Aug. 29

  • Rocket: NASA's Space Launch System

  • Mission: Artemis I

  • Launch Time: 8:33 a.m. EDT

  • Launch Window: Two hours

  • Launch Pad: 39B at Kennedy Space Center

  • Trajectory: Northeast

  • Duration: 42 days

  • Backup Launch Windows: Sept. 2 at 12:48 p.m. and Sept. 5 at 5:12 p.m. EDT

Visit floridatoday.com/space at 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 29, for real-time updates and live video.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Artemis I mega moon rocket launch: Countdown now underway