NASA Artemis 1 Rocket slightly damaged by Hurricane Nicole

irizflick 11/11/2022 56 Views

Updated 2022/11/11 at 12:59 PM

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NASA Artemis 1 Rocket slightly damaged by Hurricane Nicole

NASA said its new mega-lunar rocket — Artemis 1 — suffered no major damage after Hurricane Nicole made landfall in its Florida home.

NASA’s new mega-lunar rocket, Artemis 1, has missed many launch plans in the past due to engine bleeds, tropical weather and Hurricane Ian. This time Artemis 1 had to face Hurricane Nicole. The storm made landfall south of Cape Canaveral, Florida, where NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

After initial visual inspections, NASA said Artemis 1 suffered no major damage from Hurricane Nicole. Jim Free, a deputy administrator at the US Space Agency, said, “The agency has identified minor damage such as loose joints and cracks in weather covers.”

Free added that further checks would be carried out to confirm the initial assessment. NASA had previously said the rocket was designed to withstand heavy rainfall and high winds.

On November 9, NASA aborted the launch mission because of a storm, and fuel leaks kept the rocket grounded in August. Artemis 1 was last scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16th. But now the rocket is being scrutinized because it had to withstand two hurricanes.

The $4.1 billion mission will send an empty crew capsule around the moon and back before astronauts ascend in years to come. Through this mission, NASA hopes to put astronauts back on the moon by 2025. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration. 30 percent of their engineers are women.

The space agency is approaching the 50th anniversary of its last manned moon landing in December 1972. In the meantime, NASA will cover pre- and post-launch events in full once the mission gets the green light.

Nicole was previously downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm as it moved inland from the coast Thursday. It was declared a hurricane on Wednesday when it first made landfall on Grand Bahama Island.

In preparation for any eventuality, state officials opened 15 shelters across the region, activated 600 National Guard troops and put 1,600 workers on standby.