NASA conducts checks on its new massive moon rocket after the booster on the launch pad was battered by Hurricane Nicole.
The $4.1 billion (£3.5 billion) Space Launch System rode out of the storm but suffered “minor damage” during gusts of 160 km/h, the US space agency said.
It is currently still scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 16, pending area safety and post-storm inspections.
But if more damage is found and the rocket is delayed again, NASA faces another looming problem.
Some of the hardware — including two solid rocket boosters — will expire in mid-December, and the agency will have to determine whether it can be safely used after that date.
Artemis I, which will blast an unmanned Orion spacecraft into orbit around the moon, is set to launch for the first time in late August.
But a series of issues has led to this date being pushed back repeatedly, with the hurricane only the last issue.
NASA conducts checks on its new massive moon rocket after launch pad booster was battered by Hurricane Nicole
The rocket can handle wind speeds of up to 80 mph, but Nicole (see above) produced gusts of 100 mph, and it’s not yet clear if the spacecraft suffered serious damage from the storm.
“Our team is conducting the first visual checks of the rocket, spacecraft and ground system equipment with the cameras on the launch pad,” said Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
“Camera inspections show very minor damage, such as loose sealant and cracks in the weather lining.
“The team will soon conduct additional on-site inspections of the vehicle.”
The 322 ft (98 m) rocket is designed to withstand winds of 85 mph (74.4 knots) by some margin, the US space agency said.
“While wind sensors on the launch pad detected peak gusts of up to 82 miles per hour (71 knots) at the 60-foot level, this is within the missile’s capability,” Free said.
However, a NASA spokesperson later told: CNN that sensors at the 467 ft (142 m) level of the lightning towers suggested winds had peaked at 100 miles per hour (87 knots).
The SLS rocket rolled out to its launch pad last week when Hurricane Nicole had no name yet and was brewing only off the US East Coast.
At the time, US space agency officials had expected the storm to bring sustained winds of about 29 miles per hour (25 knots) with gusts up to 46 miles per hour (40 knots).
But it turned out that this was underestimated and the storm grew into a named system three days after the rocket rolled out to the launch pad.
“We made the decision to keep Orion and SLS on the launch pad very seriously, looking at the data ahead of us and making the best possible decision with great uncertainty in forecasting the weather four days out,” Free said.
“With the unexpected change in the weather forecast, it was deemed too risky to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building in high winds, and the team decided the launch pad was the safest place for the rocket to weather the storm.”
If November 16 proves to be a successful launch, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will take the Orion capsule to space for its 25-and-a-half day journey around the moon and then a landing in the Pacific Ocean on December 11
If Artemis doesn’t launch by mid-December, the space agency will need to determine if the hardware is still safe to use after current expiration dates
Inside Orion: MailOnline gives an inside look at NASA’s new human spacecraft to see what it will be like for astronauts when they travel to the moon in 2024. The image above shows the four seats, although in this image there will be three manikins board for the first unmanned mission. Also shown is the command console and the space toilet
The strength of the latter storm was unusual, with Nicole becoming the first November hurricane to hit the United States in nearly 40 years.
When the Artemis I mission is finally launched, Orion will travel 280,000 miles from Earth and 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon.
The capsule will stay in space longer than any human spacecraft without docking to a space station and will return home faster and hotter than ever before.
Half a century has passed since humans last walked on the moon. Artemis I is the first step of a multi-year mission to return human boots to the lunar surface by 2025.
Each successful launch of the SLS rocket costs $4 billion.
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