The Space Launch System Worked Like a Charm on Its First Flight...

Brandon Hancock

Initial Assessment Shows Excellent Performance for Artemis Moon Rocket (News Release)

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket performed with precision, meeting or exceeding all expectations during its debut launch on Artemis I. The world’s most powerful rocket set NASA’s Orion spacecraft on course for a journey beyond the Moon and back, and laying the foundation for the first mission with astronauts on Artemis II and humanity’s return to the lunar surface beginning with Artemis III.

“The first launch of the Space Launch System rocket was simply eye-watering,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager. “While our mission with Orion is still underway and we continue to learn over the course of our flight, the rocket’s systems performed as designed and as expected in every case.”

The twin solid rocket booster motors responsible for producing more than 7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff reached their performance target, helping the rocket and spacecraft travel more than 27 miles from its launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and reaching a speed of about 4,000 mph in just over two minutes before the boosters separated. No issues were reported for any of the booster subsystems including its avionics and thrust vector control system used for steering.

Analysis shows the rocket’s core stage and four RS-25 engines, which burned through the stage’s 735,000 gallons of propellants in just over eight minutes, met every expectation during launch as well as in the final minutes of the countdown before liftoff, when the flight computers and software are in control and many dynamic events involving pressurizing tanks, starting the engines, and igniting the boosters, happen in quick succession.

The mega-Moon rocket delivered Orion within about three miles of its planned orbital altitude of 975 by 16 nautical miles, well within the planned range required for the mission, at a speed of approximately 17,500 mph. Analysis shows the rocket’s ascent and in-space software also performed as expected.

The interim cryogenic propulsion stage, the upper stage of the rocket used to perform two burns during the mission to first raise Orion’s orbit and then propel it toward the Moon, performed exactly as planned. The upper stage’s single RL-10 engine, which has powered successful missions to every planet in the solar system and to interstellar space over its more than 50 years in operation, set a single-duration burn record, firing for more than 18 minutes to set Orion precisely on its multi-day outbound trek to intercept Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor.

“Performance was off by less than 0.3 percent in all cases across the board,” Sarafin said.

Engineers will continue conducting more detailed analysis of the Space Launch System's performance over the next several months as the agency continues making progress building and assembling elements for the rocket for Artemis II and beyond.

“I’ve been privileged to lead the team which designed, built, tested and now flown the Space Launch System rocket on its historic first flight, the Artemis I mission,” said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “With this amazing Moon rocket, we’ve laid the foundation for Artemis and for our long-term presence at the Moon. The performance of the rocket and the team supporting its maiden voyage was simply outstanding.”

The SLS Program is managed by Marshall, and many parts of the rocket were built and tested at Marshall and at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, as well as at Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Engineers at Marshall supported the Artemis I launch real-time from the center’s SLS Engineering Support Center as well as in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Apollo's Successor Takes a Family Portrait From Lunar Orbit as It Reaches Its Farthest Point from the Earth...

NASA

Artemis I — Flight Day 13: Orion Goes the (Max) Distance (News Release)

NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft reached the farthest distance from Earth it will travel during the Artemis I mission — 268,563 miles from our home planet — just after 3 p.m. CST. The spacecraft also captured imagery of Earth and the Moon together throughout the day, including of the Moon appearing to eclipse Earth.

Reaching the halfway point of the mission on Flight Day 13 of a 25.5-day mission, the spacecraft remains in healthy condition as it continues its journey in distant retrograde orbit, an approximately six-day leg of its larger mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

“Because of the unbelievable can-do spirit, Artemis I has had extraordinary success and has completed a series of history-making events,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That’s what we do – we test it and we stress it.”

Engineers had originally planned an orbital maintenance burn today but determined it was not necessary because of Orion’s already precise trajectory in distant retrograde orbit. Based on Orion’s performance, managers are examining adding seven additional test objectives to further characterize the spacecraft’s thermal environment and propulsion system to reduce risk before flying future missions with crew.

To date, flight controllers have accomplished or are in the process of completing 37.5% of the test objectives associated with the mission, with many remaining objectives set to be evaluated during entry, descent, splashdown and recovery.

NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team and the U.S. Navy are beginning initial operations for recovery of Orion when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. The team will deploy Tuesday for training at sea before returning to shore to make final preparations ahead of splashdown.

Managers also closed out today a team formed earlier in the mission to investigate readings associated with the spacecraft’s star trackers after determining the hardware is performing as expected and initially suspect readings are a byproduct of the flight environment.

Flight controllers also have completed 9 of 19 translational burns and exercised the three types of engines on Orion – the main engine, auxiliary thrusters and reaction control system thrusters. Approximately 5,640 pounds of propellants have been used, which is about 150 pounds fewer than prelaunch expected values.

More than 2,000 pounds of margin remain available beyond what teams plan to use for the mission, an increase of more than 120 pounds from prelaunch expected values. So far, teams have already sent more than 2,000 files from the spacecraft to Earth.

Just before 8 p.m. EST, Orion was 268,457 miles from Earth and 43,138 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,679 miles per hour.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

SpaceX’s 26th Commercial Resupply Mission Is Underway at the ISS...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Moon Microscope, Solar Arrays Launch on NASA’s SpaceX Cargo Ship (Press Release - November 26)

SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission for NASA is on its way to the International Space Station.

Carrying more than 7,700 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies and other cargo, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on the Falcon 9 rocket at 2:20 p.m. EST Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The cargo spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock at the space station around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, November 27, and remain at the station for about 45 days. Coverage of arrival will begin at 6 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app.

Among the science experiments Dragon is delivering to the space station are:

Picture of Health

Moon Microscope tests a kit for in-flight medical diagnosis that includes a portable hand-held microscope and a small self-contained blood sample staining device. An astronaut collects and stains a blood sample, obtains images with the microscope, and transmits images to the ground, where flight surgeons use them to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment.

The kit could provide diagnostic capabilities for crew members in space or on the surface of the Moon or Mars, as well as the ability to test water, food and surfaces for contamination. The hardware may also enable improved medical monitoring on upcoming Artemis missions.

Adding Solar Power

Two International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, or iROSAs, launched aboard SpaceX’s 22nd commercial resupply mission for the agency and were installed in 2021. These solar panels, which roll out using stored kinetic energy, expand the energy-production capabilities of the space station.

The second set launching in the Dragon’s trunk, once installed, will be a part of the plan to provide a 20% to 30% increase in power for space station research and operations.

These arrays, the second of three packages, will complete the upgrade of half the station’s power channels. iROSA technology was first tested on the space station in 2017.

Roll-out solar array technology was used on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission and is planned for use on Gateway, a future lunar space station and vital component of NASA’s Artemis program. The iROSA upgrades use the space station as a proving ground for the technology and research needed to explore farther into space.

Big Hopes for Small Tomatoes

A continuous source of nutritious food is essential for long-duration exploration missions, and the typical pre-packaged astronaut diet may need to be supplemented by fresh foods produced in space.

Researchers have been testing a plant growth unit on station known as Veggie and have successfully grown a variety of leafy greens. Veg-05, the next step in that work, focuses on growing dwarf tomatoes.

Building Bigger Structures

On Earth, gravity deforms large objects such as the beams used in large-scale construction. Microgravity enables fabrication of longer and thinner structures without this deformation.

Extrusion demonstrates a technology using liquid resin to create shapes and forms that cannot be created on Earth. Photocurable resin, which uses light to harden the material into its final form, is injected into pre-made flexible forms and a camera captures footage of the process.

The capability for using these forms could enable in-space construction of structures such as space stations, solar arrays and equipment.

The Space Exploration Initiative supports a range of microgravity and lunar research across science, engineering, art and design. The experiment is packed inside a Nanoracks Black Box with several other experiments from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and is sponsored by the ISS National Lab.

On-Demand Nutrients

Supplying adequate nutrition is a major challenge to maintaining crew health on future long-duration space missions. Many vitamins, nutrients and pharmaceuticals have limited shelf-life, and the ability to make such compounds on-demand could help maintain crew health and well-being.

BioNutrients-2 tests a system for producing key nutrients from yogurt, a fermented milk product known as kefir, and a yeast-based beverage.

The investigation kicks off phase two of the five-year BioNutrients program, headed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and managed by Game Changing Development in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. The program began with the launch of BioNutrients-1 in 2019.

BioNutrients-2 employs a smaller system with a heated incubator that promotes growth of beneficial organisms.

The researchers are also working to find efficient ways to use local resources to make bulk products such as plastics, construction binders and feedstock chemicals. Such technologies are designed to reduce launch costs and increase self-sufficiency, extending the horizons of human exploration.

Easing Gravity Transitions

Travelers to space all face the transition from one gravity field to another. On future exploration missions, astronauts may encounter three different gravity fields: weightlessness while traveling in space, the gravity of another planet, and Earth’s gravity when they return.

These transitions can affect spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance and locomotion, and cause some crew members to experience space motion sickness.

The Falcon Goggles hardware captures high-speed video of a subject’s eyes, providing precise data on ocular alignment and balance.

These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations currently conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

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The @SpaceX #Dragon cargo craft docked to the Harmony module's space-facing port at 7:39am ET today delivering new solar arrays, science experiments, and cargo replenishing the Exp 68 crew. https://t.co/QGRXaRgydv

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 27, 2022

Apollo's Successor Has Broken a Record That Was Set in 1970 by NASA's "Successful Failure"...

NASA

Artemis I – Flight Day 11: Orion Surpasses Apollo 13's Record Distance from Earth (News Release)

On day 11 of the Artemis I mission, Orion continues its journey beyond the Moon after entering a distant retrograde orbit on Friday, November 25, at 3:52 p.m. CST. Orion will remain in this orbit for six days before exiting lunar orbit to put the spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth for a Sunday, December 11, splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Orion surpassed the distance record for a mission with a spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space and back to Earth, at 7:42 a.m. on Saturday, November 26. The record was set during the Apollo 13 mission at 248,655 miles from our home planet. At its maximum distance from the Moon, Orion will be more than 270,000 miles from Earth on Monday, November 28.

Engineers also completed the first orbital maintenance burn by firing auxiliary thrusters on Orion’s service module at 3:52 p.m. for less than a second to propel the spacecraft at .47 feet per second. The planned orbital maintenance burns will fine-tune Orion’s trajectory as it continues its orbit around the Moon.

Flying aboard Orion on the Artemis I mission is a suited manikin named after a key player in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth. Arturo Campos was an electrical engineer who developed a plan to provide the command module with enough electrical power to navigate home safely after an oxygen tank aboard the service module of the Apollo spacecraft ruptured.

Commander Moonikin Campos is outfitted with sensors to provide data on what crew members may experience in flight, continuing Campos’ legacy of enabling human exploration in deep space.

Artemis builds on the experience of Apollo. With Artemis, humans will return to the lunar surface, and this time to stay.

NASA will use innovative technologies to explore the Moon’s South Pole, and more of the lunar surface than ever before using the Gateway space station in lunar orbit along with advanced spacesuits and rovers. NASA will lead the way in collaboration with international and commercial partners to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon.

Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Enters a Broad Lunar Orbit That Will Surpass the Distance Record Set by Apollo 13...

NASA

Flight Day 10: Orion Enters Distant Retrograde Orbit (News Release)

Flight Controllers in the White Flight Control Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully performed a burn to insert Orion into a distant retrograde orbit by firing the orbital maneuvering system engine for 1 minute and 28 seconds at 4:52 p.m. CST, propelling the spacecraft at 363 feet per second. Shortly before conducting the burn, Orion was traveling more than 57,000 miles above the lunar surface, marking the farthest distance it will reach from the Moon during the mission.

While in lunar orbit, flight controllers will monitor key systems and perform checkouts while in the environment of deep space.

The orbit is distant in that Orion will fly about 50,000 miles above the Moon. Due to the distance of the orbit, it will take Orion nearly a week to complete half an orbit around the Moon, where it will exit the orbit for the return journey home.

About four days later, the spacecraft will harness the Moon’s gravitational force once again, combined with a precisely-timed lunar flyby burn to slingshot Orion onto its return course to Earth ahead of splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, December 11.

On Saturday, November 26, the Orion spacecraft will break the record for farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans to space and safely return them to Earth. This distance is currently held by the Apollo 13 spacecraft at 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from Earth.

Orion was specifically designed for missions to carry humans farther into space than ever before.

On Artemis I, engineers are testing several aspects of the Orion spacecraft needed for deep space missions with crew, including its highly-capable propulsion system to maintain its course with precision and ensure its crew can get home, communication and navigation systems to maintain contact with the ground and orient the spacecraft, systems and features to handle radiation events, as well as a heat shield that can handle a high-speed reentry from the Moon. Both distance and duration demand that the spacecraft must have systems that can reliably operate far from home, be capable of keeping astronauts alive in case of emergencies and still be light enough that a rocket can launch it.

Artemis II will test the systems required for astronauts to live and breathe in deep space. Long duration missions far from Earth drive engineers to design compact systems not only to maximize available space for crew comfort, but also to accommodate the volume needed to carry consumables like enough food and water for the entirety of a mission lasting days or weeks.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

Happy Thanksgiving to My Fellow Yanks! Apollo's Successor Will Soon Enter a Record-breaking Lunar Orbit...

NASA

Artemis I – Flight Day Nine: Orion One Day Away from Distant Retrograde Insertion (News Release)

Orion is now about one day away from entering into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it’s at a high altitude approximately 50,000 miles from the surface of the Moon. Due to the distance, the orbit is so large that it will take the spacecraft six days to complete half of a revolution around the Moon before exiting the orbit for the return journey back to Earth.

During the last day in the transit to distant retrograde orbit, flight controllers performed a third in a series of planned star tracker development flight tests relative to the Sun, with a fourth planned for tomorrow. Star trackers are a navigation tool that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation.

In the first three flight days, engineers evaluated initial data to understand star tracker readings correlated to thruster firings.

The spacecraft completed its sixth outbound trajectory correction burn at 3:52 p.m. CST, firing the European Service Module’s auxiliary engines for 17 seconds to propel the spacecraft at 8.9 feet per second. This is the final trajectory correction before entering distant retrograde orbit. When in lunar orbit, Orion will perform three orbital maintenance burns to keep the spacecraft on course.

Overnight, engineers will begin a 24-hour test of the reaction control system engines to evaluate engine performance for standard and non-standard thruster configurations. This test will provide data to inform procedures and ensure that the reaction control thrusters can control Orion’s orientation in an alternate configuration if there is an issue with the primary configuration.

Just after 1:42 p.m. CST on November 24, Orion was traveling 222,993 miles from Earth and 55,819 miles from the Moon, cruising at 2,610 miles per hour.

NASA Television coverage of the distant retrograde orbit insertion burn is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST on Friday, November 25. The burn is scheduled to take place at 4:52 p.m.

Images are sent down to Earth, and uploaded to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Flickr account and Image and Video Library. When bandwidth allows, views of the mission will be available in real-time via video stream.

Source: NASA.Gov

Europe Has Revealed Its Next Group of Space Explorers...

ESA - P. Sebirot

ESA Presents New Generation of Astronauts (News Release)

The European Space Agency has chosen 17 new astronaut candidates from more than 22,500 applicants from across its Member States. In this new 2022 class of ESA astronauts are five career astronauts, 11 members of an astronaut reserve and one astronaut with a disability.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher introduced the members of the 2022 ESA astronaut class, the first new recruits in 13 years, today at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris, France, shortly after the ESA Council at Ministerial level ended.

The ESA astronaut candidates are


ESA

“Today we welcome the 17 members of the new ESA astronaut class 2022. This ESA astronaut class is bringing ambition, talent and diversity in many different forms – to drive our endeavours, and our future.

“The continuous exploration in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station, going forward to the Moon – and beyond,” said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.

ESA’s director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, added “This is an extraordinary time for human spaceflight and for Europe. After the successful launch of Artemis I with ESA’s European Service Module powering Orion to the Moon, we are on the forefront of human space exploration. We are delighted to have this group of extremely talented people, to continue European science and operations on the International Space Station and beyond.”

ESA’s new astronaut candidates will take up duty at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany. They will be trained to the highest level of standards as specified by the International Space Station partners.

Frank De Winne, head of the European Astronaut Centre and ESA’s International Space Station programme Manager said: “We are excited to welcome the new ESA astronaut class of 2022 and I am looking forward to see all these ambitious young career astronaut candidates joining us for their first training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in spring 2023, going forward to explore and shape space exploration.”

After completion of the 12-month basic training, the new astronauts will be ready to enter the next Space Station training phase and, once assigned to a mission, their training will be tailored to specific mission tasks.

For the first time, ESA has established a reserve pool of astronauts. This reserve list is composed of astronaut candidates who were successful throughout the entire selection process but cannot be recruited at this point in time. Astronauts in the reserve remain with their current employers and will receive a consultancy contract and basic support. They will start basic training in case a flight opportunity has been identified.

ESA also selected one astronaut candidate with a physical disability. He will take part in the Parastronaut Feasibility Project to develop options for the inclusion of astronauts with physical disabilities in human spaceflight and possible future missions.

Source: European Space Agency

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The First Artemis Mission Officially Begins Operations, Paving the Way for the Gateway Lunar Space Station...

NASA

CAPSTONE Forges New Path for NASA’s Future Artemis Moon Missions (Press Release - November 21)

NASA's CAPSTONE spacecraft has completed final maneuvers to place it in its target orbit around the Moon, refining its path in the orbit it arrived at last week.

The spacecraft is now in the operational phase of its pathfinding mission, during which it will test an orbit key to future Artemis missions and demonstrate new technologies for spacecraft operating near the Moon.

“NASA’s partnership with Advanced Space on CAPSTONE is enabling NASA to gain critical, additional capabilities at a lower cost,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “CAPSTONE is part of our new era of human exploration at the Moon, testing the unique orbit planned for the Gateway lunar space station.”

CAPSTONE – short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment – is a technology demonstration, designed to prove the reliability of new capabilities so that they can be used in future missions. CAPSTONE is the first spacecraft to fly in a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) and the first CubeSat to operate at the Moon. This orbit is the same planned for Gateway, an upcoming Moon-orbiting space station that will support NASA's Artemis missions.

CAPSTONE will gather data on this orbit for at least six months to support Gateway's operational planning.

"Missions like CAPSTONE allow us to reduce risk for future spacecraft, giving us a chance to test our understanding and demonstrate technologies we intend to use in the future," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. "Partnering with innovative U.S. companies, including several small businesses, on CAPSTONE has given us the chance to forge new ground, merging commercial interests with NASA's goals."

CAPSTONE took a four-month journey from launch to orbit – overcoming challenges related to communications and propulsion along the way – and performed an initial orbit insertion maneuver on November 13. In the following days, the CAPSTONE mission operations team, led by Advanced Space of Westminster, Colorado, analyzed data from the spacecraft to confirm it was in the expected orbit and carried out two clean-up maneuvers to refine its track.

In addition to studying this unique orbit, CAPSTONE's mission also includes two technology demonstrations that could be used by future spacecraft. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, or CAPS, is a navigational software developed by Advanced Space that would allow spacecraft operating near the Moon to determine their position in space without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth.

CAPSTONE will demonstrate this technology by communicating directly with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been in orbit around the Moon since 2009. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate one-way ranging using a chip-scale atomic clock, which could allow spacecraft to determine their position in space without the need for a dedicated downlink to ground stations.

"We have been working to this point since we started the company over 11 years ago. Getting into this orbit at the Moon validates so much hard work and grit by the combined CAPSTONE mission operations team," said Bradley Cheetham, principal investigator for CAPSTONE and chief executive officer of Advanced Space. "The capabilities we have demonstrated and the technologies still to be matured will support future missions for decades to come."

CAPSTONE launched on June 28, 2022, aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Mahia, New Zealand. After launch, a Photon upper stage raised CAPSTONE's orbit and injected the spacecraft into its ballistic lunar transfer, a long but fuel-efficient trajectory that carried the spacecraft to the Moon over the course of more than four months.

CAPSTONE is commercially owned and operated by Advanced Space. It represents an innovative collaboration between NASA and industry to provide rapid results and feedback to inform future exploration and science missions. The spacecraft was designed and built by Terran Orbital.

Operations are performed jointly by teams at Advanced Space and Terran Orbital. The mission is also supported by Stellar Exploration, Space Dynamics Laboratory, Orion Space Solutions, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. and Morehead State University.

NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funds the demonstration mission. The program is based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

The development of CAPSTONE’s navigation technology is supported by NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, also within STMD. The Artemis Campaign Development Division within NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate funded the launch and supports mission operations.

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NASA

A Human-rated Spacecraft Has Flown Past the Moon for the First Time Since 1972!

NASA TV

Artemis I – Flight Day Six: Orion Performs Lunar Flyby, Closest Outbound Approach (News Release)

On its sixth day into the Artemis I mission, Orion successfully completed its fourth orbital trajectory correction burn using the auxiliary engines at 1:44 a.m. CST ahead of the first of two maneuvers required to enter a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The first three trajectory correction burns provided an opportunity to fire all three thruster types on Orion with the first using the large orbital maneuvering system engine, the second using the small reaction control system thrusters and the third using the medium-sized auxiliary engines.

Orion completed the outbound powered flyby at 6:44 a.m., passing about 81 miles above the surface at 6:57 a.m. The spacecraft's speed increased from 2,128 mph before the burn to 5,102 mph after the burn.

Shortly after the outbound flyby burn, the spacecraft passed about 1,400 miles above the Apollo 11 landing site at Tranquility Base at 7:37 a.m. Orion later flew over the Apollo 14 site at about 6,000 miles in altitude and then over the Apollo 12 site at an altitude of about 7,700 miles.

“The mission continues to proceed as we had planned, and the ground systems, our operations teams and the Orion spacecraft continue to exceed expectations, and we continue to learn along the way about this new, deep-space spacecraft,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager, in a November 21 briefing at Johnson Space Center.

Orion will enter a distant retrograde orbit beyond the Moon on Friday, November 25 with the second maneuver, called the distant retrograde orbit insertion burn. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it’s at a high altitude from the surface of the Moon, and it’s “retrograde” because Orion will travel around the Moon opposite the direction the Moon travels around Earth.

This orbit provides a highly-stable orbit where little fuel is required to stay for an extended trip in deep space to put Orion’s systems to the test in an extreme environment far from Earth.

Orion will travel about 57,287 miles beyond the Moon at its farthest point from the Moon on November 25, pass the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed for humans at 248,655 miles from Earth on Saturday, November 26, and reach its maximum distance from Earth of 268,552 miles Monday, November 28.

As of Monday, November 21, a total of 3,715.7 pounds of propellant has been used, 76.2 pounds less than prelaunch expected values. There are 2,112.2 pounds of margin available over what is planned for use during the mission, an increase of 201.7 pounds from prelaunch expected values.

Just after 2:45 p.m. CST on November 21, Orion had traveled 216,842 miles from Earth and was 13,444 miles from the Moon, cruising at 3,489 miles per hour.

Follow along and track Orion via the Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website, or AROW, and watch live footage from the spacecraft. You can find the latest images from Orion on the Johnson Space Center Flickr account.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

Apollo's Successor Gets Ready for Its Closest Approach to the Moon's Surface Tomorrow Morning...

NASA

Artemis I – Flight Day Five: Orion Enters Lunar Sphere of Influence Ahead of Lunar Flyby (News Release)

Five days into the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion continues on its trajectory toward the Moon. Flight controllers in the White Flight Control Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston captured additional imagery of the Moon using the optical navigation camera.

Gathering imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances will provide an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness as a location determination aid for future missions under changing lighting conditions.

Orion completed its third outbound trajectory correction burn at 6:12 a.m. CST, firing the auxiliary thruster engines for a duration of 6 seconds at a rate of 3.39 feet per second to accelerate Orion and adjust the spacecraft’s path while en route to the Moon. The amount of speed change determines which of Orion’s service module engines – reaction control, auxiliary or orbital maneuvering system – to use for a particular maneuver.

The spacecraft entered into the lunar sphere of influence at 1:09 p.m. CST, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft. Overnight, Orion will conduct the fourth outbound trajectory correction burn in advance of the outbound powered flyby burn.

Flight controllers will conduct the outbound powered flyby burn by firing the orbital maneuvering system engine for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to accelerate the spacecraft, harness the force from the Moon’s gravity, and direct it toward a distant retrograde orbit beyond the Moon.

The outbound powered flyby burn is the first of a pair of maneuvers required to enter a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. NASA will cover the maneuver live starting at 7:15 a.m. EST on the agency’s website, NASA Television and the NASA app.

The outbound powered flyby will begin at 7:44 a.m., with Orion’s closest approach to the Moon targeted for 7:57 a.m., when it will pass about 80 miles above the lunar surface. Engineers expect to lose communication with the spacecraft as it passes behind the Moon for approximately 34 minutes starting at 7:26 a.m.

The Goldstone ground station, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, will acquire the spacecraft once it emerges from behind the Moon.

Mission managers currently have two active anomaly resolution teams. Anomaly resolution teams are a standard part of managing the mission by pulling together a team of technical experts to focus on a specific issue by examining data to understand the implications in a particular system.

Activating a separate team for this work enables engineers and flight controllers to continue focusing on commanding and monitoring the spacecraft and assessing the progress of the flight test.

One team is currently looking at the star tracker system to understand a number of faults in the random access memory, which have been successfully recovered with power cycles. A second team is analyzing a few instances in which one of eight units located in the service module that provides solar array power to the crew module, called a power conditioning and distribution unit umbilical latching current limiter, opened without a command.

The umbilical was successfully commanded closed each time and there was no loss of power flowing to avionics on the spacecraft. Both systems are currently functioning as required, and there are no mission impacts related to these efforts.

Analyzing the data for these systems and understanding their behavior during an active flight test while the hardware is in the deep space environment will improve mission operations on Artemis I and future missions.

At 1:25 p.m. CST on November 20, Orion had traveled 232,683 miles from Earth and was 39,501 miles from the Moon, cruising at 371 miles per hour. See which antennas are communicating with Orion in real-time on Deep Space Network Now and track Orion via the Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website, or AROW.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

Orion Remains on Track to Fly Near the Moon on November 21...

NASA

Artemis I – Flight Day Four: Testing WiFi Signals, Radiator System, GO for Outbound Powered Flyby (News Release)

On Saturday, November 19, the Mission Management Team polled “go” for Orion’s outbound powered flyby past the Moon. NASA will cover the flyby live on NASA TV, the agency’s website and the NASA app starting at 7:15 a.m. EST Monday, November 21.

The burn is planned for 7:44 a.m. Orion will lose communication with Earth as it passes behind the Moon from 7:25 a.m. through 7:59 a.m., making its closest approach of approximately 80 miles from the surface at 7:57 a.m.

During flight day four, flight controllers moved each solar array to a different position to test the strength of the WiFi signal with the arrays in different configurations. The Integrated Communications Officer, or INCO, tested the WiFi transfer rate between the camera on the tip of the solar array panels and the camera controller.

The goal was to determine the best position to most efficiently transfer imagery files. Teams learned that having multiple cameras on at once can impact the WiFi data rate, and therefore, future solar array wing file transfer activities will be accomplished from one solar array wing at a time to optimize transfer time.

The Emergency, Environmental and Consumables Manager, or EECOM, tested Orion’s radiator system. Two radiator loops on the spacecraft’s European Service Module help expel excess heat generated by different systems throughout the flight.

Flight controllers are testing sensors that maintain the coolant flow in the radiator loops, switching between different modes of operation and monitoring performance. During speed mode, the coolant pumps operate at a constant rate. This is the primary mode used during Artemis I.

Flow control mode adjusts the pump speed as needed to maintain a constant flow through the system. The flight test objective is to monitor system performance and the accuracy of flow sensors to characterize the stability of this mode of operation. Each loop is monitored in flow control mode for 72 hours to provide sufficient data for use on future missions.

As part of planned testing throughout the mission, the guidance, navigation and control officer, also known as GNC, performed the first of several tests of the star trackers that support Orion’s navigation system. Star trackers are a navigation tool that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation.

In previous flight days, engineers evaluated initial data to understand star tracker readings correlated to thruster firings. Engineers hope to characterize the alignment between the star trackers that are part of the guidance, navigation and control system and the Orion inertial measurements units, by exposing different areas of the spacecraft to the Sun and activating the star trackers in different thermal states.

Just after 5:30 p.m. on November 19, Orion had traveled 222,823 miles from Earth and was 79,011 miles from the Moon, cruising at 812 miles per hour. You can track Orion via the Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website, or AROW.

Overnight, engineers in mission control will uplink large data files to Orion to better understand how much time it takes for the spacecraft to receive sizeable files. On flight day five, Orion will undergo its third planned outbound trajectory correction burn to maneuver the spacecraft and stay on course for the Moon.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

SLS Update: Humanity's Return to the Lunar Surface Has Moved Closer to Reality!

NASA / Joel Kowsky

Liftoff! NASA’s Artemis I Mega Rocket Launches Orion to Moon (Press Release)

Following a successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, the agency’s Orion spacecraft is on its way to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Carrying an uncrewed Orion, SLS lifted off for its flight test debut at 1:47 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. Known as Artemis I, the mission is a critical part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. It’s an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis II mission.

“What an incredible sight to see NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

After reaching its initial orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and engineers began performing checkouts of the spacecraft’s systems. About 1.5 hours into flight, the rocket’s upper stage engine successfully fired for approximately 18 minutes to give Orion the big push needed to send it out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon.

Orion has separated from its upper stage and is on its outbound coast to the Moon powered by its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency) through an international collaboration.

“It’s taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon,” said Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity.”

Over the next several hours, a series of 10 small science investigations and technology demonstrations, called CubeSats, will deploy from a ring that connected the upper stage to the spacecraft. Each CubeSat has its own mission that has the potential to fill gaps in our knowledge of the solar system or demonstrate technologies that may benefit the design of future missions to explore the Moon and beyond.

Orion’s service module will also perform the first of a series of burns to keep Orion on course toward the Moon approximately eight hours after launch. In the coming days, mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct additional checkouts and course corrections as needed. Orion is expected to fly by the Moon on November 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon.

“The Space Launch System rocket delivered the power and performance to send Orion on its way to the Moon,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. “With the accomplishment of the first major milestone of the mission, Orion will now embark on the next phase to test its systems and prepare for future missions with astronauts.”

The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B on November 4 where they rode out Hurricane Nicole. Following the storm, teams conducted thorough assessments of the rocket, spacecraft and associated ground systems, and confirmed that there were no significant impacts from the severe weather.

Engineers previously rolled the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) September 26 ahead of Hurricane Ian and after waving off two previous launch attempts August 29 due to a faulty temperature sensor, and September 4 due to a liquid hydrogen leak at an interface between the rocket and mobile launcher. Prior to rolling back to the VAB, teams successfully repaired the leak and demonstrated updated tanking procedures. While in the VAB, teams performed standard maintenance to repair minor damage to the foam and cork on the thermal protection system and recharge or replace batteries throughout the system.

Artemis I is supported by thousands of people around the world, from contractors who built Orion and SLS, and the ground infrastructure needed to launch them, to international and university partners, to small businesses supplying subsystems and components.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars.

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NASA / Keegan Barber


NASA TV


NASA

Starship Will Play a Pivotal Role in the Artemis 4 Mission...

SpaceX

NASA Awards SpaceX Second Contract Option for Artemis Moon Landing (Press Release)

NASA has awarded a contract modification to SpaceX to further develop its Starship human landing system to meet agency requirements for long-term human exploration of the Moon under Artemis.

With this addition, SpaceX will provide a second crewed landing demonstration mission in 2027 as part of NASA’s Artemis IV mission.

“Returning astronauts to the Moon to learn, live and work is a bold endeavor. With multiple planned landers, from SpaceX and future partners, NASA will be better positioned to accomplish the missions of tomorrow: conducting more science on the surface of the Moon than ever before and preparing for crewed missions to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Known as Option B, the modification follows an original award to SpaceX in April 2021 under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Option A contract. NASA previously announced plans to pursue this Option B with SpaceX.

“Continuing our collaborative efforts with SpaceX through Option B furthers our resilient plans for regular crewed transportation to the lunar surface and establishing a long-term human presence under Artemis,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager for the Human Landing System program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “This critical work will help us focus on the development of sustainable, service-based lunar landers anchored to NASA’s requirements for regularly recurring missions to the lunar surface.”

The aim of this new work under Option B is to develop and demonstrate a Starship lunar lander that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III, including docking with Gateway, accommodating four crew members, and delivering more mass to the surface.

NASA initially selected SpaceX to develop a human landing system variant of Starship to land the next American astronauts on the Moon under Artemis III, which will mark humanity’s first return to the lunar surface in more than 50 years. As part of that contract, SpaceX will also conduct an uncrewed demonstration mission to the Moon prior to Artemis III.

The agency is pursuing two parallel paths for human lunar landers developed according to NASA’s sustained requirements to increase the competitive pool of capable industry providers – the existing contract with SpaceX and another solicitation released earlier this year. The other solicitation, NextSTEP-2 Appendix P, is open to all other U.S. companies to develop additional human landing system capabilities and includes uncrewed and crewed demonstration missions from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon.

Astronaut Moon landers are a vital part of NASA’s deep space exploration plans, along with the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, ground systems, spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway.

Under Artemis, NASA will send a suite of new lunar science instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, establish a long term lunar presence, and more. The agency will leverage its Artemis experiences and technologies to prepare for the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.

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The First Artemis Mission Has Officially Reached Its Lunar Destination!

NASA

CAPSTONE Arrives to Orbit at the Moon (News Release)

The CAPSTONE mission operations team confirmed that NASA’s CAPSTONE spacecraft arrived in its orbit at the Moon Sunday evening. The CubeSat completed an initial orbit insertion maneuver, firing its thrusters to put the spacecraft into orbit, at 7:39 p.m. EST.

CAPSTONE is now in a near-rectilinear halo orbit, or NRHO. This particular NRHO is the same orbit that will be used by Gateway, the Moon-orbiting space station that will support NASA’s Artemis missions. CAPSTONE is the first spacecraft to fly an NRHO, and the first CubeSat to operate at the Moon.

In the next five days, CAPSTONE will perform two additional clean-up maneuvers to refine its orbit. After these maneuvers, the team will review data to confirm that CAPSTONE remains on track in the NRHO.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA

SLS Remains Scheduled for a Nov. 16 Launch After Bearing the Brunt of Hurricane Nicole...

NASA / Joel Kowsky

Teams Conduct Check-outs, Preparations Ahead of Next Artemis I Launch Attempt (News Release)

NASA continues to target launch of its Artemis I mission from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:04 a.m. EST, Wednesday, November 16. There is a two-hour launch window for the agency’s first integrated flight test of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.

Teams conducted thorough assessments at Launch Complex 39B beginning Thursday evening, closely inspecting SLS, Orion, the mobile launcher and other pad-related assets to confirm there were no significant impacts from Hurricane Nicole, which made landfall more than 70 miles south of the launch pad. The physical inspections augmented remote monitoring via sensors and high-resolution cameras performed during the storm by a team in a safe location at Kennedy.

Space Launch System engineers have performed detailed analysis to confirm the sustained and peak winds experienced during the storm have no adverse effect on the structural strength of the rocket. While varying peak winds were measured by sensors at different heights at the pad, all measurements remained below 75% of SLS design limits, which also are intentionally conservative.

Data from testing with actual hardware during the structural test series and modal testing, as well as other evaluations and modeling, provide confidence that there is margin beyond the design ratings.

Technicians are also working to fix several minor items from the storm. Most repairs involve loose caulk or weather coverings. An umbilical used to provide purge air, or proper environmental conditions to the Orion spacecraft, was out of position. The umbilical maintained purge throughout the storm and has been repositioned to allow proper retraction at liftoff.

Engineers have also removed the hard cover over the launch abort system window installed before the storm and will inspect the window to confirm it is in good condition for launch.

Today, as part of normal launch preparation, engineers are in the process of powering up rocket and spacecraft elements to confirm all systems are healthy. Powered health checks will continue until Saturday. Engineers plan to conduct the standard final software and hardware-related tests required before launch, on Sunday. The Artemis I mission management team will convene Sunday afternoon to review the preparations for launch.

Source: NASA.Gov

An Accomplished Space Explorer Will Soon Leave America's Astronaut Corps...

SpaceX

Pioneering Astronaut Bob Behnken Retires from NASA (Press Release)

NASA astronaut and former U.S. Air Force Col. Bob Behnken is retiring from NASA after 22 years of service. His last day with the agency is Friday, November 11.

“Bob Behnken is a distinguished and talented astronaut, and an effective ambassador for our never-ending mission to explore the cosmos,” said Administrator Bill Nelson. “Bob and fellow NASA astronaut Doug Hurley launched into history with their impeccable command of NASA and SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission, and played a pivotal role in helping a new era of commercial space take flight. Along with the entire NASA family, I appreciate Bob’s service to our country and wish him all the best in his next endeavor.”

Behnken’s career highlights included 93 days in space on two space shuttle Endeavour flights and the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Behnken was pilot and joint operations commander for the first crewed flight test of the SpaceX Dragon. Known as Demo-2, that flight launched Behnken and former NASA astronaut Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on May 30, 2020, and safely returned them to Earth on August 2, 2020.

The Demo-2 flight inaugurated a new era of human spaceflight, which continues today with reliable crew launches to the space station from American soil on commercially built and owned spacecraft. As a space station crew member for 62 days, Behnken performed four spacewalks with former NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and contributed more than 100 hours to the orbiting laboratory’s scientific investigations.

“Bob served and led the astronaut office with calm hands and exceptional expertise,” said Reid Weisman, chief of the astronaut office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “There are few as experienced and trusted in this industry. We will miss him, and we wish him well in his next endeavor.”

Behnken joined NASA at Johnson in July 2000 as an astronaut candidate. On his first spaceflight, in 2008, Behnken was a space shuttle Endeavour mission specialist for the STS-123 delivery of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (Dextre) to the space station. Behnken performed three spacewalks, and operated the station’s robotic arm both with and without Dextre attached.

Behnken flew again in 2010, as a mission specialist for STS‐130, which delivered the station’s Tranquility module and its cupola, the station’s seven‑window Earth-facing observation post. He served as the mission’s lead spacewalker, performing three additional spacewalks to install the newly-arrived module. Behnken completed 10 spacewalks across his three missions, spending more than 61 hours working in the vacuum of space.

“Bob served the agency in a vital role as an astronaut and contributed greatly to some of NASA’s most important and groundbreaking endeavors,” said Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator for space operations at NASA Headquarters. “During his career, he flew missions to help build a world-class science laboratory in space, flew the first commercial crew spacecraft to orbit, and left his mark in the astronaut corps. All of these contributions to human spaceflight will continue to benefit all of us as we continue to push new boundaries.”

Behnken also supported NASA astronauts on Earth in a variety of roles. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the astronaut office, supporting space shuttle launch and landing activities. Behnken trained as an International Space Station crew member following the loss of space shuttle Columbia in 2003 and as a mission specialist for STS-400, the launch-on-need rescue flight for the last Hubble servicing mission. He served as NASA’s chief astronaut from 2012 to 2015, and deputy of NASA’s Flight Operations Directorate from September 2021 to April 2022.

“I am humbled to have had the opportunity to represent our nation as a NASA astronaut, and thankful to have been a part of the team that returned human spaceflight to the United States back in 2020,” said Behnken. “I am so looking forward to seeing and being amazed by what people of this great agency will accomplish next.”

Behnken grew up in St. Ann, Missouri, and graduated from Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri. He earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1992, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 1993, and a Doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1997. Behnken was commissioned via the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Before retiring from active military service in February 2022, Behnken had achieved the rank of colonel and flown more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 25 different types of aircraft.

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NASA / Bill Ingalls

SLS Battens Down the Hatches for Rough Weather Ahead...

NASA / Joel Kowsky

NASA Prepares Rocket, Spacecraft Ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole, Re-targets Launch (News Release - November 8)

NASA is continuing to monitor Tropical Storm Nicole and has decided to re-target a launch for the Artemis I mission for Wednesday, November 16, pending safe conditions for employees to return to work, as well as inspections after the storm has passed. Adjusting the target launch date will allow the workforce to tend to the needs of their families and homes, and provide sufficient logistical time to get back into launch status following the storm.

Kennedy is currently in a HURCON (Hurricane Condition) III status, which includes securing facilities, property and equipment at the center, as well as briefing and deploying the “ride-out” team. As part of NASA’s hurricane preparedness protocol, a “ride-out” team includes a set of personnel who will remain in a safe location at Kennedy throughout the storm to monitor centerwide conditions, including the flight hardware for the Artemis I mission.

Kennedy will release non-essential personnel at the HURCON II status as the agency continues to prioritize its employees in the Kennedy area. Based on expected weather conditions and options to roll back ahead of the storm, the agency determined Sunday evening the safest option for the launch hardware was to keep the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft secured at the pad.

The SLS rocket is designed to withstand 85 mph (74.4 knot) winds at the 60-foot level with structural margin.

Current forecasts predict the greatest risks at the pad are high winds that are not expected to exceed the SLS design. The rocket is designed to withstand heavy rains at the launch pad and the spacecraft hatches have been secured to prevent water intrusion.

In preparation for the storm, teams have powered down the Orion spacecraft, SLS core stage, interim cryogenic propulsion stage and boosters. Engineers have also installed a hard cover over the launch abort system window, retracted and secured the crew access arm on the mobile launcher and configured the settings for the environmental control system on the spacecraft and rocket elements.

Teams are also securing nearby hardware and performing walkdowns for potential debris in the area.

Teams are poised to resume work as soon as weather and Kennedy center status allows. Once back on-site, technicians will perform walkdowns and inspections at the pad to assess the status of the rocket and spacecraft as soon as practicable.

A launch during a two-hour window that opens at 1:04 a.m. EST on November 16 would result in a splashdown on Sunday, December 11. If needed, NASA has a back-up launch opportunity on Saturday, November 19, and will coordinate with the U.S. Space Force for additional launch opportunities.

The agency continues to rely on the most up-to-date information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Space Force and the National Hurricane Center throughout its evaluations and continues to closely monitor conditions for the Kennedy area.

Source: NASA.Gov

Images of the Day: A Blood Moon and the Mega-Moon Rocket...

NASA / Joel Kowsky

As of right now, there's a chance that NASA's Space Launch System rocket won't launch as scheduled on November 14 due to Tropical Storm Nicole...which should make landfall in Florida tomorrow. November 16 is reportedly the earliest date that Artemis 1 can get off the ground.

Stay tuned for more information.

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Total Lunar Eclipse (Photo Release)

The Moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse above NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket—with the Orion spacecraft aboard—atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket and supporting ground systems.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Sean Cannon

The Space Launch System's Block 1B Variant Moves Closer to Attaining a Finalized Design...

NASA

NASA Progresses Design of More Powerful SLS Rocket (News Release - November 4)

NASA reached a milestone toward enhancing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for future missions to deep space. Managers convened November 3 for the critical design review of the Block 1B evolved configuration of the rocket and determined teams will continue with design and initial production work for the evolved rocket design.

Beginning with Artemis IV, the SLS rocket will fly using the evolved Block 1B configuration with a more powerful Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) that includes larger fuel tanks and four RL10 engines, and a new stage adapter and payload adapter to send the crewed Orion spacecraft and large cargos to the Moon on a single mission.

This Block 1B configuration will be capable of launching more than 80,000 pounds of payload to the Moon, includes new flight software capabilities, allows for more launch date opportunities and enhances crew safety. It will be capable of lifting 40% more mass than the current Block 1 SLS configuration that will soon launch the uncrewed Artemis I flight test, as well as the Artemis II and III missions.

The Block 1 configuration uses an interim cryogenic propulsion stage with one RL10 engine to provide in-space propulsion to send Orion to the Moon.

Early production work on an EUS structural test article is already in progress at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and teams recently delivered the interstage simulator to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for future testing.

As teams at Michoud build SLS core stages for future Artemis missions, they are also testing the weld parameters on the recently manufactured EUS hydrogen tank barrel weld confidence article. These tests will allow engineers to construct the EUS structural test article that will be used to qualify the stage for flight.

Manufacturing the upper stage is a collaborative effort between NASA and Boeing, the lead contractor for EUS and the SLS core stage.

Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface and establish long-term exploration on the Moon in preparation for human missions to Mars. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft, along with the commercial Human Landing System and Gateway in orbit around the Moon, are NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.

SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA