NASA’s moon rocket on track for Wednesday launch attempt

By: Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press Posted: 10:45 AM CST Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 Last Modified: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Nov. 14, 2022

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA remained on track for Wednesday’s planned liftoff of its new moon rocket, after determining that hurricane damage provided little extra risk to the test flight.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA remained on track for Wednesday’s planned liftoff of its new moon rocket, after determining that hurricane damage provided little extra risk to the test flight.

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This article was published 14/11/2022 (1402 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA remained on track for Wednesday’s planned liftoff of its new moon rocket, after determining that hurricane damage provided little extra risk to the test flight.

Hurricane Nicole’s high winds caused a 10-foot (3-meter) section of caulking to peel away near the crew capsule at the top of the rocket last Thursday. The material tore away in small pieces, rather than one big strip, said mission manager Mike Sarafin.

“We’re comfortable flying as is,” based on flight experience with this material, Sarafin told reporters Monday night.

NASA's new moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA's 21st-century moon-exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo's mythological twin sister. NASA is targeting an early Wednesday morning launch attempt. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Liftoff is scheduled for the early morning hours of Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with test dummies rather than astronauts on board. It’s the first test flight for the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA, and will attempt to send the capsule into lunar orbit.

The nearly monthlong $4 billion mission has been grounded since August by fuel leaks and Hurricane Ian, which forced the rocket back into its hangar for shelter at the end of September. The rocket remained at the pad for Nicole; managers said there wasn’t enough time to move it once it became clear the storm was going to be stronger than anticipated.

Sarafin acknowledged Monday night that there’s “a small likelihood” that more of the pliable, lightweight caulking might come off during liftoff. The most likely place to be hit would be a particularly large and robust section of the rocket, he noted, resulting in minimal damage.

Engineers never determined what caused the dangerous hydrogen fuel leaks during the two late summer launch attempts. But the launch team is confident that slowing the flow rate will put less pressure on the sensitive fuel line seals and keep any leakage within acceptable limits, said Jeremy Parsons, a deputy program manager.

The space agency plans to send astronauts around the moon in 2024 and land a crew on the lunar surface in 2025.

Astronauts last visited the moon in December 1972, closing out the Apollo program.

A microwave oven-size NASA satellite, meanwhile, arrived Sunday in a special lunar orbit following a summer liftoff from New Zealand. This elongated orbit, stretching as much as tens of thousands of miles (kilometers), is where the space agency plans to build a depot for lunar crews. The way station, known as Gateway, will serve astronauts going to and from the lunar surface.

A close-up view of NASA’s moon rocket at Kennedy Space Center, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Hurricane Nicole's high winds last week caused a 10-foot section of caulking to peel away near the capsule at the top of the rocket. Mission managers want to make sure the narrow strip won't damage the rocket if it breaks off during liftoff, scheduled for Nov. 16, at 1:04 a.m. EST with test dummies on board. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

The satellite, called Capstone, will spend six months testing a navigation system in this orbit.

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