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NASA to Roll Artemis I Moon Rocket Off Launch Pad as Hurricane Ian Looms

posted by hubie on Tuesday September 27 2022, @02:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the there's-a-storm-blowing-up dept.
News

upstart writes:

With a monster storm bearing down on Florida, NASA slams the launch window shut:

NASA has temporarily called off the launch of Artemis I and will roll its mammoth Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. The decision comes as Tropical Storm Ian threatens to travel north across Cuba and into Florida, bringing extreme winds and rain to the pad's vicinity.

The space agency decided to stand down its launch teams and focus on preparing for a rollback on Saturday morning, deferring a final call to Sunday. On Sunday, NASA announced it would continue monitoring the storm, giving it every last opportunity for the rocket to remain on the pad and to shoot for an Oct. 2 launch date -- but on Monday, it was announced that the tangerine-hued rocket will be rolled back into the VAB starting at 11 p.m. ET.

That timing, NASA explained, was based on predicted weather criteria in the area and the decision to allow "time for employees to address the needs of their families and protect the integrated rocket and spacecraft system."

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  • (Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Tuesday September 27 2022, @05:14AM

    by Frosty Piss (4971) on Tuesday September 27 2022, @05:14AM (#1273809)

    ...Never to be heard from again.

  • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Tuesday September 27 2022, @08:00AM (1 child)

    by bradley13 (3053) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 27 2022, @08:00AM (#1273820) Homepage Journal

    ...we wait. If NASA wants to light the thing, they must do at least some maintenance. They probably also need a whole new set of waivers for components (like the boosters) that are past their sell-by date.

    Alternatively, NASA can just claim "it's all the hurricane's fault" and declare the rocket to be scrap. Then, of course, they need to build a whole new one. Although technically embarrassing, that would provide the best pork.

    Time will tell...

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.

  • (Score: 2) by corey on Tuesday September 27 2022, @10:22PM

    by corey (2202) on Tuesday September 27 2022, @10:22PM (#1273928)

    Can the huge, vertical, un-aerodynamic VAB withstand hurricane force winds? If so that would be one hell of a building.

  • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday September 28 2022, @03:08PM

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) on Wednesday September 28 2022, @03:08PM (#1274039)

    Damn, I called it.

    Anyone taking bets for flying it in January?

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