Did you see Sunday night’s brilliant and beautiful full snow moon?
It provided the perfect backdrop to the Artemis II moon mission rocket, perched atop frigid Launch Pad 39B, as NASA personnel continued their “wet dress rehearsal countdown,” which began Jan. 31 at 8:13 p.m.
The frigid weather in Florida this past weekend caused a change in schedule for this important evolution.
From 9 p.m. Monday until 1 a.m. Tuesday, the fueling of the giant Space Launch System rocket with 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen begins.
The tanks will then be emptied and the task begins of reviewing how this almost 49-hour wet dress rehearsal went. Analysis of all the data will result in NASA officials deciding on the establishment of a launch window. The earliest Artemis II could launch is Feb. 8 and the latest is Feb. 11. If the launch does not occur, another launch window begins March 6 to 11.
The rehearsal countdown will continue until 33 seconds before the ignition of the two solid rocket boosters and the four RS-25 main engines occurs, signaling the real launch countdown.
You can see a livestream of Launch Pad 39B and NASA “will provide a separate feed during tanking activities, as well as real-time blog post updates regarding the test during the fueling day.”
I will be following the progress of Artemis II and WTOP will provide updates as they become available.
LIGHT. THAT. CANDLE!
Follow my daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration. You can email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com.
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