Countdown begins for NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission and maiden flight of SLS megarocket

NASA's first female launch director, called her team to their stations in Firing Room 1 at the Kennedy Space Center and began the carefully-scripted 46-hour, 10-minute countdown at 10:23 a.m. EDT.

Shortly after the briefing, lightning struck two of the three 600-foot-tall protective towers around the SLS rocket at launch pad 39B. The strike prompted a review of data to make sure no sensitive electrical systems were affected, but initial checks indicated the strikes were "low magnitude."

One question mark going into the countdown is the status of a 4-inch liquid hydrogen quick-disconnect fitting that leaked during a practice countdown and fueling test June 20.

The fitting was repaired after the rocket was hauled back to NASA's assembly building. But hydrogen leaks typically don't show up unless the equipment is exposed to cryogenic temperatures — in this case, minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit — and that won't happen until fueling is underway Monday morning.

Agreed. The skin of the Spacex Starship w/booster is STAINLESS STEEL, a sleek work of beauty.

Also, the speed with which Spacex has created the launch site and multiple test articles leading up to Starship #24 and Booster #7 is astonishing. Everything you see at the Boca Chica, TX launch facility was designed and built in less than 5 years.. try THAT, NASA!

Spacex is currently building another launch site at the Cape, FL which is a copy of that built at Boca China, TX.

I consider following the Spacex Starship program a hobby of mine. It will be a monumental day in space history when that 400 ft. tall monster lifts off the pad in TX, COMING SOON!

Does THIS photo remind you of anything, FReepers?:

Spacex placing Starship atop its Super Heavy Booster

This is the latest news release as of about 30 min. ago...
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The Artemis I Mission Management Team has given the “go” to proceed toward tanking operations.

Weather conditions remain 80% favorable at the beginning of the two-hour launch window which opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Aug. 29, with chances for rain showers increasing toward the later part of the window.

Artemis I launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is scheduled to give the “go” to officially begin propellant loading operations just before midnight.

During tanking operations, teams will fuel the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2), beginning with the rocket’s core stage and then the interim cryogenic propulsion stage.

Tanking begins with chilling down the LOX lines for the core stage. The process for the chill down, or cooling, uses the propellant lines to load the rocket’s core stage LOX in preparation for tanking. The LOX tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen, cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. In sequential fashion, LOX and LH2 will flow into the rocket’s core stage tank and be topped off and replenished as some of the cryogenic propellant boils off.

The process involves slowly filling the core stage with propellant to thermally condition the tank until temperature and pressure are stable before beginning fast fill operations, which is when the tank is filled at a quicker pump speed. As the super cold liquid oxygen fills the core stage tank, some venting may be visible. The team also will conduct leak checks to ensure propellant loading is proceeding as expected.

At midnight, NASA TV coverage begins with commentary of tanking operations to load propellant into the SLS rocket. Full coverage begins at 6:30 a.m. in English and at 7:30, coverage in Spanish begins.

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