Turn to CNN for live coverage from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Space reporters Kristen Fisher and Rachel Crane will give us a real-time report on the launch with a team of experts.
It’s a sight to behold as the 322-foot (98-foot) high stack, which consists of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, glows in the dim early morning at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Weather conditions remain 80% favorable for launch at the start of the window that opens at 8:33 a.m. and closes at 10:33 a.m. ET, according to the latest forecast.
But many problems have arisen since the rocket started to refuel just after midnight. The Artemis team is evaluating the delays to determine how much they affect at all.
Marine storms with the possibility of lightning prevented the team from starting the refueling process, scheduled to begin at midnight, for about an hour.
The suspension was lifted at 1:13 a.m. ET, and the tank operation began loading the rocket’s core stage with supercooled liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
The team stopped filling the tank with liquid hydrogen twice due to an initial leak as well as high pressure, but the tank resumed to the primary stage and started on the upper stage, or temporary cryogenic thrust stage.
Now, the launch team has discovered an engine bleed problem in one of the rocket’s four engines and is working to reconfigure it. So far, their efforts have not been effective.
As the engine bleeds, hydrogen is circulated through the engine to prepare it for launch. Three of the four motors are working as expected, but motor #3 has a problem.
The team also discovered a streak of frost at the edge of the inner stage. Frost may indicate a crack.
Engineers are also working on the reason for the 11-minute delay in communications between the Orion spacecraft and ground systems. The problem can affect the start of the final countdown, or the countdown that begins when 10 minutes remain on the clock before takeoff. But engineers feel good about discovering the problem before the final count, according to NASA.
Vice President Kamala Harris and number two Doug Imhof are expected to visit the Kennedy Space Center on Monday.
Celebrity appearances such as Jack Black, Chris Evans and Keke Palmer, “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Josh Groban and Herbie Hancock, “America the Beautiful” by the Philadelphia Orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma are also part of the programme.
Mission overview
Orion’s journey will take 42 days as it travels to the Moon, orbits it, and returns to Earth – traveling a total of 1.3 million miles (2.1 million km). The capsule will fall into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on October 10.
Although the passenger list doesn’t include any humans, it does include passengers: three mannequins and a plush Snoopy ride in Orion.
Expect to see views of the sunrise, similar to what was shared during Apollo 8 for the first time, but with much better cameras and technology.
The inaugural Artemis mission will begin the space exploration phase landing various astronaut crews on previously unexplored regions of the Moon and eventually deliver manned missions to Mars.
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