Anybody want to revisit their bets on whether Artemis or Starship launch next?
Instapundit Blog Archive THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA has a new problem to fix before the next Artemis II countdown test.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA has a new problem to fix before the next Artemis II countdown test.
Here's the core problem, and it isn't the hydrogen: NASA finally acknowledges the elephant in the room with the SLS rocket.
It's a hot mess that costs $4 billion per launch, not including substantial development costs.
Instapundit Blog Archive THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA has a new problem to fix before the next Artemis II countdown test.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA has a new problem to fix before the next Artemis II countdown test.
Quote:
On Thursday, NASA's launch team tested the seals by partially filling the core stage with liquid hydrogen. This "confidence test" ended earlier than planned when the launch team encountered a new problem that reduced the flow of fuel into the rocket. In a statement released Friday night, NASA said workers will replace a filter suspected to be the cause of the reduced flow before proceeding into the next WDR.
The confidence test ended as the launch team transitioned to "fast fill" mode for liquid hydrogen, when pressures and flow rates put the finicky seals through the most stress. However, NASA said engineers achieved several key objectives of the confidence test.
Isaacman wrote Saturday that the test "provided a great deal of data, and we observed materially lower leak rates compared to prior observations during WDR-1."
Here's the core problem, and it isn't the hydrogen: NASA finally acknowledges the elephant in the room with the SLS rocket.
Quote:
During the news conference, I asked about this low flight rate and the challenge of managing a complex rocket that will never be more than anything but an experimental system. The answer from NASA's top civil servant, Amit Kshatriya, was eye-opening.
"You know, you're right, the flight ratethree years is a long time between the first and second," NASA's associate administrator said. "It is going to be experimental, because of going to the Moon in this configuration, with the energies we're dealing with. And every time we do it these are very bespoke components, they're in many cases made by incredible craftsmen. … It's the first time this particular machine has borne witness to cryogens, and how it breathes, and how it vents, and how it wants to leak is something we have to characterize. And so every time we do it, we're going to have to do that separately."
So there you have it. Every SLS rocket is a work of art, every launch campaign an adventure, every mission subject to excessive delays. It's definitely not ideal.
It's a hot mess that costs $4 billion per launch, not including substantial development costs.
