NASA

When Will Artemis I Launch? Local Space Expert Explains Delays

Hurricane Ian has thrown a wrench in plans to send a rocket to the moon

NBCUniversal, Inc.

As Hurricane Ian bears down on Florida, the launch of NASA's most powerful ever rocket -- which was supposed to take place on Tuesday -- has been delayed.

Overnight Monday and into Tuesday, Artemis I was rolled off the launch pad and into NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to ride out the storm.

It took crews about eight to 10 hours to move the massive rocket and the unmanned Orion spacecraft about four miles into the building.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER HURRICANE IAN?

According to NASA, managers decided to roll back Tuesday’s launch based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian not showing improving expected conditions for the Kennedy area. The decision allows time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system.

After the storm has passed, teams will conduct inspections to determine impacts at the center and establish a forward plan for the next launch attempt, according to a blog post on NASA’s website.

That includes replacing the core stage flight termination system batteries and retesting the system to ensure it can terminate the flight if necessary for public safety in the event of an emergency during launch.

WHEN WILL ARTEMIS I LAUNCH?

The Artemis I moon rocket has been delayed several times since its original launch date in August. A new launch date has not been set.

CNBC reported Tuesday that NASA now sees November as the most likely opportunity for the next Artemis I launch attempt. In a press briefing on Tuesday, NASA associate administrator Jim Free said the agency expects to conduct work on the rocket while it's in the VAB, replacing components that are "limited life items."

The mission is designed to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in 50 years. Artemis I will be unmanned, with future missions including astronauts.

"That's why this is the test mission. This is Artemis I,” said Ken Ruffin, president of the National Space Society North Texas chapter.

Ruffin said he has waited his entire life to witness history like this and even spent two weeks in Florida last month hoping to see the launch in person.

"It's par for the course with all launches -- whether it's a historic launch like this or whether it's more of a routine launch. If there is such a thing when it comes to space travel, there's always countless things that could go wrong. Whether it's mechanical related or whether it's weather related, which is currently the case. Even if this is unfortunate, it happens sometimes,” he explained. "It's truly the norm. It's like when a launch happens on the original date and time that it's scheduled. That's the shock."

He said it's important that the NASA Artemis team leads a successful mission – even if it means delaying launches – instead of rushing and causing disaster.

"Whenever things go wrong, many people from the public feel as if, 'Why are we doing this anyway? Isn't this a waste of money?' And even other ideas less positive than that,” he said. "So because NASA is aware of that they want to succeed, if at all possible, every time. And not just because of public perception, but also of course, for the purposes of the mission itself.”

One important thing to note is that this will not be the first time the Orion capsule, which will eventually hold astronauts, has been to space.

In 2014, the capsule was launched on a smaller rocket, Delta IV heavy, built by United Launch Alliance in a journey that brought it a few thousand miles away from the Earth to test the heat shield reentering the atmosphere.

“So that was the first test in space of the capsule and there have been countless of tests on the ground, in the air, of a variety of the different components of the rocket and capsule. But this will be the first time that the rocket itself will be going around the moon and back,” said Ruffin.

After this test, the path to a future in space travel could become more clear – just as it was for air travel in the very beginning, Ruffin said.

“So as the frequency of launches increases, then statistically, the margin of safety improves. We will eventually get to that point but now, we're still in the really early stages of space travel,” he said. “So because we're in those really early stages, safety and following every rule -- avoiding any and every challenge that we can see coming – is certainly in the best interest of all of NASA, as well as the companies building their own rockets.”

DART MISSION

This week, Ruffin said one of the most important NASA missions ever in NASA's history since 1958 took place – the DART spacecraft.

In this historic mission to test a potential defense against something like an asteroid, the spacecraft intentionally slammed into an asteroid Monday. The agency's DART probe, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, carried out the first-of-its-kind maneuver on a small and harmless space rock known as Dimorphos, which is about 6.8 million miles from Earth.

“There were movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon, where either an asteroid or a comet was on a collision course with Earth. And whether or not Bruce Willis was in the movie, something heroic was done to keep the Earth from being destroyed. Well, that, of course, was science fiction,” said Ruffin. “However, there are, according to scientists, the estimate is that there are about 1 million near earth asteroids orbiting the sun, relatively near the earth.”

Out of that, approximately 1 million scientists worldwide combined have found about 30,000.

“So if you do the math, that's 3%. Most people would not be satisfied getting a 3% on the test,” said Ruffin.

None of them, according to scientific models, are anticipated to hit the earth within the next 50 years at least.

“So we're as safe as the numbers say that we can be. However, just statistically speaking, sooner or later, we're going to find an asteroid that's large enough to cause significant damage. Not necessarily destroy the Earth, but maybe destroy a city that's on its way to the earth,” said Ruffin.

Ken Ruffin, President of the National Space Society of North Texas speaks with NBC 5's Candace Sweat about the DART spacecraft that smashed into an asteroid Tuesday, potentially diverting a landing on earth.
Contact Us