The most recent testing information says that the “agency will conduct the demonstration test no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 21, and has updated its request for a launch opportunity Sept. 27, with a potential backup opportunity of Oct. 2 under review”.…
Read the rest “Artemis Slipping”
NASA has two more launch opportunities at the end of this month if they can get permission from Space Force. The limiting factor is the certification on some batteries that are part of the rescue system. As a safety system you want to make sure all the parts work.…
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By luck and because SpaceX is launching so many rockets, I had the opportunity to catch a night launch of a Falcon 9 from SLC 40. I drove out to the causeway with s direct line of site to the launch pad.…
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The inaugural launch of SLS is scheduled for just 3 days from now. Local buzz says there will be 100,000 people in attendance to view the launch of the largest rocket system from US soil. Local NBC affiliate predicts 70% chance of good weather for the launch.…
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I managed to snag tickets to the Artemis I launch at the end of the month. I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to get tickets for the Saturn V viewing area. I’m still looking forward to the launch.…
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NASA has tentatively scheduled Artemis launch for August 29 with backup options on September 2nd and 5th. Those dates assume all goes well for the next month.
The current “no-earlier-than” planning date is Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT, with backup dates available on Sept.…
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According to several sources following troubles with the wes, Artemis I has a new launch window no earlier than (NET) August.
The first launch window for Artemis 1 is June 6-16; additional windows are open June 29-July 12 and July 26-August 9.https://earthsky.org/space/sls-rehearsal-scrubbed-artemis-likely-delayed/…
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Now that SLS has crawled out to the launch pad we can calculate when she’ll launch, right. No exactly. The next step is a “wet test” where they fill the tanks with fuel to make sure nothing leaks or explode. Once that test happens next month the crawler will be called into service again to drag the stack back to the VAB.…
Read the rest “Artemis – June or Summer”
Seriously, how did I not know this movie existed? Last night I was looking at HBO’s list of what’s leaving this month and spotted “Countdown”, directed by Robert Altman, and starring Robert Duval and James Caan. So serious star power, a new director that would go on to make movies I love like M*A*S*H, and a topic that I find fascinating.…
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Artemis 1 is a planned uncrewed test flight for NASA’s Artemis program that is the first integrated flight of the agency’s Orion MPCV and Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.
The current “no-earlier-than” planning date is Aug. 29, at 8:33 a.m. EDT, with backup dates available on Sept.…
Read the rest “Artemis I Countdown Timer”
STS-41-C launched on April 6, 1984. The mission marked the first direct ascent trajectory for the Space Shuttle;
Challenger reached its 288-nautical-mile-(533-km)-high orbit using its Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines only once, to circularize its orbit. During the ascent phase, the main computer in Mission Control failed, as did the backup computer.…
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NASA decided to change the launch numbering system. Apparently counting launches wasn’t complicated enough. STS-41-B (formerly STS-11) was the tenth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the fourth flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It launched on February 3, 1984, and landed on February 11 after deploying two communications satellites.…
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November 1983, STS-9, also known as STS-41A and Spacelab 2 launch as the sixth mission of the Columbia. STS-9 sent the first non-U.S. citizen into space on the Shuttle, Ulf Merbold, becoming the first ESA and first West German citizen to go into space