>The Space Launch System rocket program is now a decade and a half old, and it continues to be dominated by two unfortunate traits: It is expensive, and it is slow.
>The massive rocket and its convoluted ground systems, so necessary to baby and cajole the booster’s prickly hydrogen propellant on board, have cost US taxpayers in excess of $30 billion to date. And even as it reaches maturity, the rocket is going nowhere fast.
>You remember the last time NASA tried to launch the world’s largest orange rocket, right? The space agency rolled the Space Launch System out of its hangar in March 2022. The first, second, and thirds attempts at a wet dress rehearsal—elaborate fueling tests—were scrubbed. The SLS rocket was slowly rolled back to its hangar for work in April before returning to the pad in June.
>The fourth fueling test also ended early but this time reached to within 29 seconds of when the engines would ignite. This was not all the way to the planned T-9.3 seconds, a previously established gate to launch the vehicle. Nevertheless mission managers had evidently had enough of failed fueling tests. Accordingly, they proceeded into final launch preparations.
>The first launch attempt (effectively the fifth wet-dress test), in late August, was scrubbed due to hydrogen leaks and other problems. A second attempt, a week later, also succumbed to hydrogen leaks. Finally, on the next attempt, and seventh overall try at fully fueling and nursing this vehicle through a countdown, the Space Launch System rocket actually took off. After doing so, it flew splendidly.
ForsakenRacism on
You’re just not going to get anything done at that cadence. Nothing exciting in the Artemis program is going to happen. The entire Apollo launch cadence was inside of a decade.
gaflar on
By design. Senate Launch System is a make-work project, always was, always will be.
IndividualSkill3432 on
I know everyone says hydrogen but I am sure other hydrogen rockets have not had this level of issue. Ariane 5 was the mainstay of western satellite launching for years with hydrolox first stage. Saturn V had hydrogen upper stages, as did some deep space upper stages like Centaur. Shuttle scrubbed, i.e. rescheduled launch dates about 90% of its actual launch dates though I think that includes launches which had multiple reschedules.
I suspect Shuttle was ususually difficult and SLS more so.
IBelieveInLogic on
I wonder if Berger had this one queued up in hopes that there would be some sort of delay.
5 Comments
>The Space Launch System rocket program is now a decade and a half old, and it continues to be dominated by two unfortunate traits: It is expensive, and it is slow.
>The massive rocket and its convoluted ground systems, so necessary to baby and cajole the booster’s prickly hydrogen propellant on board, have cost US taxpayers in excess of $30 billion to date. And even as it reaches maturity, the rocket is going nowhere fast.
>You remember the last time NASA tried to launch the world’s largest orange rocket, right? The space agency rolled the Space Launch System out of its hangar in March 2022. The first, second, and thirds attempts at a wet dress rehearsal—elaborate fueling tests—were scrubbed. The SLS rocket was slowly rolled back to its hangar for work in April before returning to the pad in June.
>The fourth fueling test also ended early but this time reached to within 29 seconds of when the engines would ignite. This was not all the way to the planned T-9.3 seconds, a previously established gate to launch the vehicle. Nevertheless mission managers had evidently had enough of failed fueling tests. Accordingly, they proceeded into final launch preparations.
>The first launch attempt (effectively the fifth wet-dress test), in late August, was scrubbed due to hydrogen leaks and other problems. A second attempt, a week later, also succumbed to hydrogen leaks. Finally, on the next attempt, and seventh overall try at fully fueling and nursing this vehicle through a countdown, the Space Launch System rocket actually took off. After doing so, it flew splendidly.
You’re just not going to get anything done at that cadence. Nothing exciting in the Artemis program is going to happen. The entire Apollo launch cadence was inside of a decade.
By design. Senate Launch System is a make-work project, always was, always will be.
I know everyone says hydrogen but I am sure other hydrogen rockets have not had this level of issue. Ariane 5 was the mainstay of western satellite launching for years with hydrolox first stage. Saturn V had hydrogen upper stages, as did some deep space upper stages like Centaur. Shuttle scrubbed, i.e. rescheduled launch dates about 90% of its actual launch dates though I think that includes launches which had multiple reschedules.
I suspect Shuttle was ususually difficult and SLS more so.
I wonder if Berger had this one queued up in hopes that there would be some sort of delay.