Artemis 2 fueling underway

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Fueling of the Space Launch System rocket is underway for an April 1 launch attempt of Artemis 2, the first mission to send humans toward the moon in more than 50 years.

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA Artemis launch director, gave approval shortly after 7:30 a.m. Eastern to begin loading liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant into the SLS, which started about an hour later after chilling tanks in the core stage. That decision keeps preparations on schedule for a launch in a two-hour window that opens at 6:24 p.m. Eastern.

That propellant loading process, which takes several hours, seems routine but has proven nerve-wracking in the past. Both during Artemis 1 launch attempts in 2022 and a first wet dress rehearsal for Artemis 2 in February, liquid hydrogen leaks led to scrubs of launch attempts or an early end to the practice countdown.

Agency officials, though, expressed confidence those leak problems are behind them, citing a lack of leaks during a second Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal in mid-February. Between the two fueling tests, workers replaced Teflon seals in quick-disconnect lines between the rocket and ground equipment.

At a March 31 briefing, Jeff Spaulding, NASA senior test director, said the team had been working through a few issues during the countdown, which started March 30.

“Normally when we’re in the firing room, working over there, folks have got their heads down working,” he said. “But there were a lot of smiles today.”

He added that controllers remained vigilant. “I wouldn’t necessarily characterize that because it’s quiet, we’re not still doing the same amount of rigor,” he said. “We’re just finding fewer things now than we had previously.”

Weather forecasts continued to predict an 80% chance of acceptable weather for an April 1 launch, with clouds and a possible passing shower the main concerns. However, a two-hour window provides flexibility to work around any weather issues.

“Even if we have showers around in a two-hour launch window, we should be able to shoot the gap between those showers,” said Mark Burger, launch weather officer at the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, during the briefing.

He expected no significant changes in weather the next few days should the April 1 launch be scrubbed, with a 70% to 75% chance of acceptable weather through April 4.

While there was a coronal mass ejection from the sun March 29, Burger said most of that event’s energy was directed away from Earth and did not pose a hazard for the launch.

“Solar forecasting makes terrestrial forecasting look easy,” he said, but downplayed any risk of major solar storms in the coming days. “Right now, we’re hovering right around background levels, and it takes quite a bit of energy directed toward the Earth for us to even get close to those constraints.”