Managers on alert for “launch fever” as pressure builds for NASA’s Moon mission

“Putting a crew on a rocket and getting a crew around the Moon will be our first step toward a sustained presence on the Moon,” Honeycutt said. “It’s 10 days [and] Four astronauts are going farther from Earth than any other human has ever traveled. We will validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support, navigation and crew systems in the really harsh environment of deep space, and this will pave the way for future landings.

There is still a lot of work to be done before NASA can clear Artemis II for launch. Technicians on the launch pad will complete final checkout and closeout before NASA’s launch team gathers for the critical practice countdown in early February. During this countdown, called the Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR), Blackwell-Thompson and her team will monitor the loading of the SLS rocket’s core stage and upper stage with super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant.

Cryogenic fluids, specifically liquid hydrogen, provided fits to the Artemis launch team as NASA prepared to launch the Artemis I mission.-without astronauts-On the first test flight of the SLS rocket in 2022. Engineers resolved the issues and successfully launched the Artemis I mission in November 2022, and officials will apply the lessons for the Artemis II countdown.

“Artemis I was a test flight and we learned a lot during the launch of that mission,” Blackwell-Thompson said. “And the things that we’ve learned with respect to how to load this vehicle, how to load LOX (liquid oxygen), how to load hydrogen, have all been applied to the way we want to do it for the Artemis II vehicle.”

Finding the right time to fly

Assuming that the countdown rehearsal goes as planned, NASA could be in a position to launch the Artemis II mission as soon as February 6. But the schedule for February 6 is so tight that there is no margin for error. Officials typically have about five days per month when they can launch Artemis II, when the Moon is in the right position relative to Earth, and the Orion spacecraft can follow the proper trajectory toward reentry and splashdown to limit stress on the capsule’s heat shield.

In February, available launch dates are February 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11, with the launch window opening during the night hours in Florida. If the mission doesn’t launch by February 11, NASA will have to wait until a new series of launch opportunities starting on March 6. The space agency has posted a document showing all the available launch dates and times through the end of April.

NASA leaders are eager for Artemis II to fly. NASA is not only competing with China, a reality acknowledged by the agency’s former administrator during the Biden administration. Now, the Trump administration is pressuring NASA to complete a human landing on the Moon by the end of his presidential term on January 20, 2029.

One of Honeycutt’s jobs as chairman of the Mission Management Team (MMT) is to make sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are dotted and T’s are crossed amid the frenzy of final launch preparations. While the hardware for Artemis II is underway in Florida, astronauts and flight controllers are completing their final training and simulations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“I think I have a good look at launch fever,” he said Friday.

“As president of MMT, I’ve got a job, and it’s the safe return of Reed, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. I consider it a duty and a trust, and I intend to fulfill it.”