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Updated November 15th, 2022 at 23:24 IST

NASA eyes acing Artemis 1 launch in third attempt; here’s why previous ones failed

NASA's Artemis 1 mission will see the Space Launch System (SLS rocket) blast off to orbit during a two-hour launch window that opens at 11:34 am IST.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
NASA
Image: NASA | Image:self
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NASA, on November 16, will attempt to launch the Artemis 1 mission for the third time from the Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed Artemis 1 will see the Space Launch System (SLS rocket) blast off to orbit during a two-hour launch window that opens at 11:34 am IST and it will mark the commencement of NASA's Artemis Program.

As ambitious as the mission is, it has been infested with delays and postponements and the most recent ones occurred in August and September. 

Why did the previous launch attempts fail?

NASA first attempted to launch Artemis 1 on August 29 after a successful 'wet dress rehearsal' a few days ago. Scheduled to launch at 6:03 pm IST, the mission was scrubbed just 40 minutes before the liftoff owing to a thermal issue with one of the rocket engines. The SLS rocket has four RS-25 engines at its core stage and this stage of the rocket has two big fuel tanks for storing super-cooled liquid oxygen (-181°C) and liquid hydrogen (-252°C) as propellants.

When the propellants are loaded into the core stage during tanking operations, all four engines are allowed to acclimate with the super cool propellants so that they do not experience shock during launch. This sequence is called the 'bleed test' wherein the engines are exposed to cold temperatures to bring them down to around 5°C. However, during the August 29 attempt, one of the four engines failed to reach this temperature and thus the mission was scrubbed.

The second attempt was carried out on September 3 but it was waived off again due to fuel leakage around two hours and 28 minutes before the scheduled liftoff. The launch was planned again during a two-hour launch window starting at 11:47 pm IST but failure to fix the leaks after multiple attempts in time resulted in another delay.

Following the scrubbing, NASA revealed that the leak was detected of the liquid hydrogen propellant in the core stage, near the supply line used to load the fuel. As we already know, hydrogen is the lightest element in the universe and storing it is extremely challenging as it can escape even through the narrowest of openings. 

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Published November 15th, 2022 at 23:24 IST

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