Cold weather in Cape Canaveral, Florida, has prompted NASA to delay a critical dress rehearsal for the Artemis II launch. That means its moon-bound mission has also been delayed to Feb. 8 or later.
The crew had planned to conduct a crucial dress rehearsal running through launch-day procedures this weekend. That has now been delayed, with the simulated launch for the dress rehearsal beginning Monday evening.
"Managers have assessed hardware capabilities against the projected forecast given the rare arctic outbreak affecting the state and decided to change the timeline," NASA said in an update on its website. "Teams and preparations at the launch pad remain ready for the wet dress rehearsal. However, adjusting the timeline for the test will position NASA for success during the rehearsal, as the expected weather this weekend would violate launch conditions."
NASA has several criteria for weather conditions for when it cannot launch Artemis II, including if temperatures are near freezing.
The four astronauts flying out on Artemis II — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — remain in quarantine in Houston. Eventually, they will be brought to Florida in the days leading up to the launch.
The wet dress rehearsal — called so because crews will fuel up the rockets, rather than simulate doing so — is a critical preparation leading up to the mission. It will simulate the launch, up to about 30 seconds until the rockets take off, allowing NASA to determine firsthand whether Artemis II is ready for its historic flight.
In delaying the wet dress rehearsal, and the launch by extension, that leaves NASA with a narrower window to launch in February. NASA engineers have determined several dates of availability when Artemis II and the moon will be positioned just right for the mission to be a success.
Now, there are only three dates in February when that's possible: Feb. 8, 10, and 11. If Artemis II is not ready by that point — or if a problem should occur during the wet dress rehearsal — it becomes increasingly likely that Artemis II will not fly until March or April.
SpaceX Crew-12 also preparing for launch
In the midst of this, NASA is also preparing for an additional flight in February. The SpaceX Crew-12, the successor to the crew that abruptly left the International Space Station in January for a medical situation, which was a first for NASA, will be heading to the space station.
Administrators are hoping to move up Crew-12's launch by a few days, so as to better staff the ISS. Now, NASA is prepping for a potential launch as soon as Feb. 11 for Crew-12.
In a news conference Friday, Crew-12's administrative team said it is deferring to Artemis II to a certain degree. If the Artemis II mission launches by Feb. 11, Crew-12 will not launch until Feb. 19. But, if Artemis II misses its February launch window, Crew-12 will plan to launch earlier.
Asked by reporters if the potential overlap of the missions could inhibit the work of the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control in Houston, NASA leaders said it would not.
"Those teams work very closely, they sit next to each other in some cases, and so it's really a very well-coordinated effort when there is any overlap," said Dina Contella, ISS program deputy director. "For the most part, you've got one team focused on Artemis, and one team focused on Crew-12."
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