Artemis I Status Update: Launch, Pad Damage and Orion

On November 16th at 06:47:44 UTC, 01:47:44 EST, SLS took to the skies on the Space Coast for the first time following a series of delays. The 4 RS-25s and 2 solid rocket boosters turned night into day when it launched from Launch Complex 39B.

Launch

Copyright: Eric Pearce, TLP Network Inc.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off from pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After the Red Team repaired a broken valve on the Mobile Launcher and the Eastern Range repaired a broken ethernet switch at one of their tracking stations, SLS went off without a hitch and performed as (or above) expectations.

The 2 SRBs burned for 2 minutes and 12 seconds, providing most of the thrust to get SLS off the pad and on its way to space. Following SRB jettison, the core stage continued to burn until T+08:20 where it then shut down its 4 RS-25 engines and separated from the ICPS 10 seconds later.

The ICPS then entered a coast phase until T+51 minutes when it begun the perigee raise manoeuvre lasting 20 seconds. The perigee raise manoeuvre was vital to Orion reaching the Moon.

The next burn was also mission critical, the Translunar Injection burn - this burn lasting 18 minutes would send Orion on a trajectory with the moon.

Both the Core Stage and ICPS performed nominally, sending Orion on a good trajectory with the moon.

Mobile Launcher Damage

All systems on the ML performed nominally including valves, quick disconnect lines, and others, however - damage was reported on the ML.

Elevator Doors

As you can see in the above image, the sheer power of those SRBs were too much for the doors on the Mobile Launcher elevator used to access various levels of the 370ft tall structure.

Other minor damage includes broken pipes and large sheets of metal and other debris on the pad due to the shockwave at launch.

In a statement to media, Artemis Mission Manager - Mike Sarafin says he expects any damage to the pad and ML will be resolved in time for Artemis II, currently slated to launch in 2024.

Orion Arrives At The Moon

After 5 days of coasting, Orion finally arrived in the moon's Sphere Of Influence (SOI), Orion then completed an outbound powered flyby burn on Flight Day 6 capturing incredible imagery of the moon.

On Flight Day 10 - Orion entered Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) around the Moon where it will stay until Flight Day 16.

What Is DRO?

The orbit is "distant" in the sense that it’s at a high altitude from the surface of the Moon, and it’s “retrograde” because Orion travels around the Moon opposite the direction the Moon travels around Earth. Orion will travel about 240,000 miles from Earth to the Moon, then about 40,000 miles beyond the Moon at its farthest point while flying in DRO.

Overall, the Artemis I mission has been a tremendous success with few issues, most of which easily resolvable by the talented engineers on the ground.

On behalf of the TLP Crew, congratulations everyone who worked on making Artemis a reality. Ad Astra Per Aspera.