Artemis

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Yup yup, looks like the launch is being delayed to March. Here is the test report. The big bugaboo is that hydrogen line.

Hydrogen is a pain to deal with. You probably know that of all the elements, hydrogen is the smallest atom there is. It can very readily leak out of openings that larger and heavier atoms like oxygen wouldn't be able to. It's so small that hydrogen atoms can actually leak through solid surfaces that are thin enough, like the walls of a pipe; so there's always going to be some amount of hydrogen escaping from any system. The leak detectors take that into account, only alarming when the amount of free hydrogen detected is higher than a certain threshold rather than just detecting any at all. But on the whole it's not super surprising that they'd have issues with the hydrogen delivery system.

Thing is though, this exact same problem was had during Artemis 1, so the engineers in charge of the ground systems have had like, a couple of years to mitigate this...

 

[Casey Pelous]

Yup yup, looks like the launch is being delayed to March. Here is the test report. The big bugaboo is that hydrogen line.

Hydrogen is a pain to deal with. You probably know that of all the elements, hydrogen is the smallest atom there is. It can very readily leak out of openings that larger and heavier atoms like oxygen wouldn't be able to. It's so small that hydrogen atoms can actually leak through solid surfaces that are thin enough, like the walls of a pipe; so there's always going to be some amount of hydrogen escaping from any system. The leak detectors take that into account, only alarming when the amount of free hydrogen detected is higher than a certain threshold rather than just detecting any at all. But on the whole it's not super surprising that they'd have issues with the hydrogen delivery system.

Thing is though, this exact same problem was had during Artemis 1, so the engineers in charge of the ground systems have had like, a couple of years to mitigate this...

This is an ancient problem. I remember this being bandied about when Bush the Dimwitted was pimping hydrogen as the savior of our energy needs.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Make the tubes out of hydrogen. Problem solved.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Next wet-dress is Thursday evening. NASA thinks (hopes?) it has resolved the leak somewhat, and they've also raised the alarm threshold for free hydrogen in the particular space this leak kept getting detected in. Engineers now think the threshold was set too aggressively conservative, and that a higher tolerance will help alleviate delays. Just to be sure, they conducted an experiment where they tried to ignite a fire inside an equally-sized space containing some free-hydrogen at the new higher threshold percentage and the hydrogen wouldn't ignite. So the new level is still plenty safe.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

So far this wet dress has gone without a hitch. Both stages of the rocket have been fast-filled all the way with both hydrogen and oxygen and are in replenish mode. No delays or holds. The only issue (that I've heard about) was problem the some of the ground team's radios early on that was fixed.

About five and a half hours left in the countdown. If everything goes well, they take the rehearsal countdown all the way to just a minute or so before the rocket would actually launch. So...fingers crossed?

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Artemis made it all the way through a series of planned holds and down to T - 33 seconds. The clock has been recycled to 10 minutes and will hold for about an hour while they reset everything and re-top the fuel tanks, and then they'll run the launch program down to 33 seconds one more time. There's no problem with the rocket; including this situation in the rehearsal lets them practice the procedures for the case that there is some last-minute little glitch that causes them to need to safe the rocket and reset the terminal count like this. That did happen during Artemis 1's (eventual) launch if you remember.

But it really SEEMS like there were no leak issues or anything else show-stopping this time around...

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

According to their press conference this morning, yesterday's wet dress rehearsal smashed it. They apparently fixed the leak - free hydrogen in the area that had been giving them so much trouble was detected at 1.5% or less during the test, practically nothing. There were no issues that delayed the count, or the recycle and recount at the end. The rehearsal this time around included the closeout crew simulating strapping in the astronauts and prepping and sealing the capsule and then doing all of their setup and breakdown stuff on the crew access gantry, and all of that stuff went great as well.

There is some mechanical work to do at the launch pad itself that will be done in the coming days but assuming there are no delays with any of that, the next launch window being targeted begins March 6th. The astronauts begin quarantine later today.

 

[Free]

The claims of "smashing it" were premature.

NASA says it needs to haul the Artemis II rocket back to the hangar for repairs

Accessing and remediating any of these issues can only be performed in the VAB."

arstechnica.com

A day after NASA officials expressed optimism that they could be ready to launch the Artemis II mission around the Moon next month, the space agency’s administrator announced Saturday that a new problem will require the removal of the rocket from its launch pad in Florida.

The latest issue appeared Friday evening, when data showed an interruption in helium flow into the upper stage of the Space Launch System rocket, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote in a post on X. Isaacman posted a more thorough update Saturday, writing that engineers are still examining the potential cause of the problem, but any fixes must take place inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.

That means NASA and contractor ground teams will immediately begin preparing to roll the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) SLS rocket off of Launch Complex 39B and back to the VAB. The rocket and its mobile launch platform will ride NASA’s crawler-transporter for the 4-mile journey.

 

[Free]

I wonder how this will effect the timeline for the next actual return to the surface and Artemis III.

NASA shakes up its Artemis program to speed up lunar return

Launching SLS every three and a half years or so is not a recipe for success."

arstechnica.com

 

[Casey Pelous]

Side note -- I'm thinking MSN is either using AI to write articles or is hiring nincompoops. (I know: Why not both?)

In late 2017, president Donald Trump signed the Space Policy Directive 1, a major policy shift to return the United States to the surface of the Moon. The signing took place 45 years to the minute after Buzz Aldrin became the first person to walk on the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. In 2019, vice president Mike Pence announced the plan was to accelerate NASA’s efforts and land on the Moon by the year 2024.

This is going to come as quite a shock to both Mr. Aldrin and to Neil Armstrong's family ...

MSN

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I wonder how this will effect the timeline for the next actual return to the surface and Artemis III.

NASA shakes up its Artemis program to speed up lunar return

Launching SLS every three and a half years or so is not a recipe for success."

arstechnica.com

As of now, Artemis III's lunar landing is basically canceled. It's now Artemis IV that will land on the Moon. Art 3 is just going to practice docking in low-earth orbit with SpaceX's or Blue Orgin's lander, whichever is ever actually built first.

Honestly I've been concerned if Artemis III would ever happen. SpaceX had the original contract to build the Artemis lunar lander, which was supposed to be used on Art 3. Elon said it would be a variant of his Starship rocket; but the prototype Starship hasn't even made stable low-earth orbit yet, so needless to say they pretty much dropped that ball. So NASA eventually reopened the contract to competitors, which is why Blue Origin's hat is back in the ring now.

But even though Art 3 is an Earth-orbit mission now, and even though the stated goal is that they need a launch more often than "every 3 years", it's still going to be a while before it happens. I really think SpaceX's lander is not going to be ready in less than 3 years - I don't even know at this point if Elon's base-model Starship is even going to be actually working in 3 years. Blue Origin's might be, but that's a big if.

 

[Casey Pelous]

I rather deeply suspect that not a bit of this Artemis program, whether "we're going" or "we're not going," has anything to do with advancing science/commerce or any other rational consideration. I think it has everything to do with the ego, whims, and grudges of Empress Poopypants. Basically, this program has been doomed since Elmo undocked from Potuspenis I, but really only ever existed as something for the gasbag to brag about and use as a basis for various grifts.