Biggest rocket (for now, until SpaceX’s Starship launches) since the Saturn V that launched the lunar missions in the late 60s/early 70s. Jealous that you’ll be able to see it!
Only a few clouds this morning so I should be able to see it from my house. Night ones are better, more dramatic. Got my binoculars ready and set an alarm to remind me to go outside
I think the evening news last night said if they don’t launch this morning it would be next Monday? but this 10 min delay has become over 40 min at this point. They are having trouble loading fuel, something about maintaining the boiling temp point required to load it.
I don’t think it’s about loading the fuel. I think that one engine is not properly bleeding (or maybe is overly bleeding?). But either way I’ll be shocked if this doesn’t go to scrub. They’ve been holding at 40 minutes for an hour now.
Do they have two separate launches today? There was an 8:30 and also a 10:30 launch time. It sounded like two different packages within the Artemis project going up, but I wasn’t clear on that.
The hydrogen engine bleed flow test that was not able to have been performed during the wet dress rehearsals is good in three of four engines, One, though, is still giving issues during a test in which pressures are increased to flight levels.
Teams will close the flow to help the engines all warm up a little, then reopen the hydrogen flow in the hopes that the temperature drops on the problem engine to where NASA needs it to be.
Meanwhile, teams have reported a crack in an inner tank flange. Cameras on it show a frost buildup and vapor trail. It’s being evaluated, but will need more discussion.
Richard Tribou
7:38 a.m. Countdown clock in 30-minute hold
The countdown clock went into a 30-minute hold at T-40 minutes while the liquid hydrogen team continues to troubleshoot a problem with the RS-25 engines at the base of the core stage. The 30-minute hold is supposed to end with the countdown with only 10 minutes ahead of launch, but a T-0, and has already pushed beyond the start of the two-hour window at 8:33 a.m.
“Launch controllers condition the engines by increasing pressure on the core stage tanks to bleed some of the cryogenic propellant to the engines to get them to the proper temperature range to start them. Engine 3 is not properly being conditioned through the bleed process, and engineers are troubleshooting,” NASA said in a statement.
An earlier noted potential issue of what seemed to be a crack seen in the inner tank has in NASA engineers’ opinion been not in the actual tank, but in the foam that insulates tank.
But if you read the hurricane thread, there is a storm that is threatening in the midatlantic that they will have to keep tabs on as it could have a negative effect on launch