NASA says the Artemis I mission will be ready to launch in one month
Enlarge / NASA's Space Launch System will make a nighttime launch on its current timeline. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)
A little more than two weeks have passed since NASA prudently rolled its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft inside the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center to protect the hardware from Hurricane Ian.
During that time, engineers and technicians from the space agency and its contractors have performed a detailed inspection of the rocket and spacecraft to determine its flight readiness. This was an important process because the vehicles have been in a fully stacked configuration for nearly a year, since October 21, 2021. NASA wanted to assess the ongoing viability of batteries on the rocket, hypergolic fuel stored on Orion's service module, and more.
The good news from those inspections is that only minimal work is required to prepare the rocket for its next launch attempt, NASA said Wednesday in a blog post.