Lightning struck the launch pad home of NASA's giant Artemis 1 moon rocket
several times on Saturday (April 2), but the rocket is in good health and on
track for a critical test.
Four lightning strikes hit the area around Launch Pad 39B, where NASA's
first Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket is undergoing a three-day fueling
test known as a "wet dress rehearsal" for its Artemis 1 mission to the moon
later this year. The rocket is protected from lightning by three towers and
a catenary wire structure to divert strikes to the ground away from the
booster.
The first three lightning strikes were relatively low power events, NASA
officials wrote
in an update late Saturday. But the fourth strike, which hit "tower one" of
the lightning protection system, was more powerful. The YouTube site Space
Googlevesaire
captured a clip
of the lightning strike from NASA's live video stream of the fueling test.
"1 of the strikes last night was the strongest we have seen since we
installed the new lightning protection system,"
wrote
Jeremy Parsons, NASA's deputy manager of the Exploration Ground Systems, who
is live tweeting the test for the agency. "It hit the catenary wire that
runs between the 3 towers. System performed extremely well & kept SLS
and Orion safe. Glad we enhanced protection since Shuttle!"
Parsons said NASA upgraded Pad 39B's lightning protection system to include
better shielding against strikes and better separate electrical current from
launch hardware. Each of its towers is topped with a fiberglass mast and the
catenary wires to divert lightning away from the rocket and its service
structure,
he added.
"The new system also has an array of sensors, both on the ground and the
mobile launcher, will help determine the rocket's condition after a nearby
lightning strike, which can prevent days of delays," Parsons wrote in a
separate post.
At the time of the lightning strikes on Saturday, the Artemis 1 SLS rocket's
core stage and its Orion spacecraft were powered up, but the rocket's
side-mounted solid rocket boosters and an interim cryogenic propulsion stage
were off, according to a NASA update.
Early Sunday, NASA Artemis 1 launch controllers met to review data from the
lightning strikes and the progress of the wet dress rehearsal, ultimately
giving the "go" to begin fueling the Space Launch System rocket at 7:20 a.m.
EDT (1120 GMT).
This weekend's wet dress rehearsal test began April 1 and is a full launch
countdown practice run for the Artemis 1 mission. During the test,
ground crews will fill the core stage with 700,000 gallons of super-cold
liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant.
Artemis 1 is NASA's first SLS mission under the agency's Artemis program to
return astronauts to the moon by 2025 or so. The Artemis 1 flight will be an
uncrewed trip around the moon to test the Space Launch System and its Orion
crew capsule, which is carrying a bevy of experiments and a mannequin
covered with sensors.
NASA will provide an update on the results of the Artemis 1 fueling test in
a press conference on Monday (April 4) at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT).
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