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Postby count2infinity » Tue Aug 23, 2022 8:36 am

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/laun ... -artemis-i

The Artemis mission launches on Monday!

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Postby Gaucho » Tue Aug 23, 2022 8:41 am

Hmph, I'll just post it again.


Image

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Postby CBear3 » Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:45 am

Where's that image from Gaucho?

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Postby Shyster » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:31 pm

Getting closer to the first launch of SLS. More than a decade in the making (and many, many billions of dollars), the first launch window for the Artemis 1 mission opens at 8:33 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, August 29. Artemis 1 is scheduled to be a 42-day mission that will send the Orion spacecraft into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon in order to test the spacecraft. Orion will then splash down off the coast of San Diego, California. The would be the second flight for an Orion; there was a test launch in December 2014 that used a Delta IV Heavy rocket to send an Orion on a two-orbit test flight.

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Postby tifosi77 » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:34 pm

Witnessing a major vehicle launch in person is definitely a bucket list sort of thing for me.

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Postby Shyster » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:47 pm

Same here. I will absolutely go see a Starship launch some day. We don't yet know what 33 Raptor 2 engines sound like firing all at once, but I sure as heck want to find out in person (and bring some earplugs).

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Postby Gaucho » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:52 pm

Where's that image from Gaucho?
Image

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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:55 pm

I'm going to guess a picture of Jupiter being buffeted by a strong gust of solar wind. Or digital art.

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Postby Gaucho » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:58 pm

James Webb telescope.

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Postby count2infinity » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:59 pm

It’s from the James Webb telescope. It’s Jupiter, the Great Red Spot, a moon or two, a few galaxies.

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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Wed Aug 24, 2022 8:23 am

I know it's a fictional, alt history show, but For All Mankind really had a cool bit of science tech in the latest season. I won't go into plot points, but they have a spacecraft that uses a photon sail made from mylar to propel their ship while not using any propellant. I had no idea such a thing was possible, and there is actually a smaller version using a proton sail orbiting the Earth right now.

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Postby tifosi77 » Wed Aug 24, 2022 12:42 pm

It's also how Count Dooku got around in the prequels iirc.

;)

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Postby Gaucho » Wed Aug 24, 2022 3:58 pm


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Postby shafnutz05 » Wed Aug 24, 2022 5:40 pm

:thumb: :lol:

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Postby Shyster » Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:30 pm

As we get closer to the Artemis I launch on Monday morning, here's Scott Manley doing a detailed analysis of the SLS launcher.


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Postby Gaucho » Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:39 am


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Postby NAN » Mon Aug 29, 2022 7:42 am

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/29/world/na ... index.html

An engine issue found. They are troubleshooting and still hoping to launch.

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Postby Gaucho » Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:48 am

No launch today.

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Postby tifosi77 » Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:52 pm

Right before shutting down for the night last night I logged on to the livestream around T-minus 4hr, and it looked like it was maybe hailing at the launch pad. So I wasn't expecting an engine fault to be the cause for a scrub.

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Postby Shyster » Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:15 pm

Rain did roll in right around when the window opened, so they might not have been able to launch (or would have had to delay) even without the engine issue.

The hydrogen pre-chill system on engine #3 was not working properly. The engines are pre-cooled prior to launch by running small amounts of liquid hydrogen and oxygen through them. Not only could the thermal shock of super-cold propellants meeting warm metal damage the engine, but super-cold propellants suddenly meeting warm metal would flash the propellants from a liquid into a gas and cause a pressure spike that could actually blow up the engines. So liquid H2 and O2 are trickled through the engines to pre-chill parts like the turbopumps so they are really to accept the massive quantities of fuel and oxidizer at startup.

It's not yet clear what the cause was. It could be a stuck valve or something else. It's also not clear whether a fix would require a rollback and engine replacement, or whether it's something that could be fixed on the pad. This pre-chill procedure was something that NASA wasn't able to test in the prior "wet dress rehearsal" tests because there was a hydrogen leak in the drain system that collects the chill hydrogen from the engines.

The next launch window would be Friday around noon, if the vehicle is ready by then for another attempt. Weather might also be an issue for Friday. The launch windows are set by the position of the moon and the rotation of the Earth, so the launch times can't be moved, but early afternoon in Florida this time of year typically features a lot of rain and thunderstorms.

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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Aug 30, 2022 6:05 am

The telemetry on those launches is insane.

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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Aug 30, 2022 6:12 am

Enjoyed this read. Hoping to get out there at some point.

https://www.space.com/meteor-crater-hol ... ar-surface

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Postby Shyster » Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:50 pm



NASA is now thinking that the temperature issue may be an inaccurate sensor. It sounds like they are going to proceed with another launch attempt, start the engine chill even earlier in the count so there would be plenty of time for it, and monitor other data. For example, if other sensors show that a sufficient volume of liquid H2 is flowing through engine #3, but the engine is still showing too warm, that would likely be a bad temp sensor. It sounds like the temp sensors cannot be replaced without a rollback to the VAB.

The next Artemis 1 launch attempt has been moved back one day to this Saturday, with a two-hour launch window opening at 2:17 pm ET. The chances of good weather are currently only 40%. Florida weather this time of year can be quite variable. Basically, Saturday is sort of being seen as another "wet dress rehearsal" with a chance of launch.

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Postby tifosi77 » Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:43 am

SpaceX launched a mission with like 393 satellites from Vandenburg AFB tonight. I had wanted to go outside and see if anything was visible from my backyard, but it was puppy feeding time and I got distracted.

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Postby Shyster » Tue Sep 06, 2022 9:53 pm

For an Artemis I update, it looks like the plan is for NASA to set up a temporary enclosure around the engines and try to replace the umbilical seals on the pad. Replacing on the pad will allow engineers to do immediate tests using actual cryogenic fuel; there's no capability in the VAB to do any sort of "wet" testing.

There is an issue with the vehicle's flight-termination system. Apparently, the FTS has batteries that have a set lifetime, and the only way to replace those batteries is to roll the vehicle back to the VAB. It looks like NASA is going to ask the Space Force (which controls safety for the Eastern Range) to issue a waiver for those batteries. If the SF grants the waiver and the repairs fix the leaky seals, then we could have a launch attempt when the next window opens on September 21. If no waiver—or if the seals aren't fixed quickly—then it would be a roll-back and a delay until likely at least November, if not even later.

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