NASA Teams Complete Initial Damage Assessment of Artemis Moon Rocket in Florida After Hurricane Ian

NASA SLS Rocket Orion Mobile Launcher

The mobile launcher with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA Teams Confirm No Damage to Artemis Flight Hardware, Focus on November for Launch

On Friday, September 30, teams conducted initial inspections to assess potential impacts from Hurricane Ian at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. No damage to Artemis flight hardware was discovered. The facilities were found to be in good shape with only minor water intrusion identified in a few locations.

To prepare for additional inspections, engineers will next extend access platforms around the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). After this, they will begin preparation for the next launch attempt, including retesting the flight termination system.

As NASA teams complete post-storm recovery operations, the agency has determined it will focus Artemis I launch planning efforts on the launch period that opens on November 12 and closes on November 27. In the coming days, managers will assess the scope of work to perform while in the VAB and identify a specific date for the next launch attempt.

By focusing efforts on the November launch period, employees at Kennedy are allowed the time to address the needs of their families and homes after the devastating storm. It also enables teams to identify additional checkouts needed before returning to the pad for launch.

4 Comments on "NASA Teams Complete Initial Damage Assessment of Artemis Moon Rocket in Florida After Hurricane Ian"

  1. How much is Artemis costing the USA? Couldn’t we just put it in a museum as an example of the great disposable rockets we made during the shuttle years and let Space X get us to the moon?

  2. Gyward P. Calayag | October 2, 2022 at 10:58 pm | Reply

    Under weather make sure sabbatical feature will work then upward consistency…….

  3. People keep complaining about how much the Artemis program is costing,as if we are suppose to be unaware that programs like this are only money laundering operations hiding in plain sight…Find any other reason where a rocket with older technology like Artemis should be 40 billion dollars in and not even a single launch has happened yet..But I’m a fan of rocket launches and I wanna see this thing fly..And for those that complain how much it’s costing,I haven’t heard a peep about the United States sending more than 80 billion dollars to Ukraine that’s not even being accounted for and is more than likely another laundering operation itself (very high probability of that being the case)..American politricks doing their usual,stealing money from the American people..

  4. I would rather see my tax dollars go on building rockets than supporting welfare freeloaders.

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