The Artemis II rocket will roll back into the field. Engineers aim to launch the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, March 19 at 8 p.m. EDT. This was reported by the US Space Agency. NASA’s crawler transporter 2 will carry the 11 million-pound stack, including the mobile launcher, about 1 mile from Kennedy’s Automotive Assembly Building to the launch pad. The journey can take up to 12 hours.
Astronauts enter quarantine again … Meanwhile, the Artemis II crew went into quarantine in Houston at 5 a.m. CDT Wednesday to ensure they remain healthy until launch. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will limit their exposure to others in Houston next week before flying to Kennedy about five days before launch. Both activities are key milestones on the way to starting work on Wednesday, April 1.
Booster 19 completes the initial test campaign. The Super Heavy first stage Booster 19, which will be used for the 12th Starship flight test, has completed its initial test campaign at the newly commissioned Pad 2 at Starbase, Texas. NASASpaceflight.com reports. The series of tests, culminating in a short static fire of the missile, was a first for Pad 2, the new Block 3/V3 Super Heavy Booster, and the improved Raptor 3 outside of single-engine tests.
New and improved (?) racket and pad … As the first vehicle to conduct operations on this platform, Booster 19’s campaign served as both a booster qualification test and a commissioning phase for the expanded launch infrastructure. Pad 2 has significant improvements over Pad 1, most notably dual booster rapid disconnects: one dedicated to liquid methane and the other to liquid oxygen. This separation allows for independent tank pressurization and more efficient loading, reducing risks associated with mixed fuels. After static firing, SpaceX said the rocket performed well. Flight 12 probably won’t be until the second half of April.
The next three issues
March 20: Electronic | Eight days a week | Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand | 16:10 UTC
March 20: Sahin 9 | Starlink 17-15 | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California | 21:48 UTC
March 22: Soyuz 2.1a | Progress MS-33 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | 11:59 UTC
