Artemis I Launch ---------------- The first launch of the SLS rocket is scheduled for 1233:00 UTC on 2022 Aug 29. SLS vehicle 1 will carry an Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission. The SLS Block I consists of: - Two 5-segment Redesigned Solid Rocket Motors, RSRMV-1L and RSRMV-1R, with a launch mass of 726 tonnes and burnout mass of 99.0 tonnes each, developed by MSFC and Northrop Grumman/Utah. - The SLS Core Stage, CS-1. CS-1, developed by Boeing, has a dry mass of 99.3 tonnes, 1102 tonnes fuelled, and is 64.6m long 8.4m diameter. CS-1 uses four refurbished RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engines, 2045, 2056, 2058 and 2060. - The Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA), connecting the CS to the ICPS. It has a mass of 4.5 tonnes and is built by Teledyne Brown (Huntsville). The LVSA remains attached to CS-1. - The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), ICPS-1, with an RL10B-2 LOX/LH2 engine. ICPS is a modified 5-metre-diameter Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) from the Delta IV rocket and is built by ULA. Dry mass of 3.8 tonnes; 32.7 tonnes fuelled. - The Orion Stage Adapter (OSA), an 800 kg cylindrical section which remains attached to ICPS-1 and contains 10 cubesats that will be deployed after launch. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) spacecraft consists of: - The Launch Abort System (LAS), consisting for this flight of a dummy Abort Motor, a dummy Attitude Motor, a live Jettison Motor and a nosecone covering the crew module. Mass of 7 tonnes. - Orion Crew Module CM S/N 002, with three instrumented dummy astronauts to monitor radiation exposure, acceleration, temperature, etc. Built by JSC and Lockheed Martin with a mass of 10.4 tonnes. - European Service Module ESM-001 "Bremen", with engine OME S/N 111, which first flew in an OMS pod on Shuttle mission 41-G. Built by Airbus, dry mass around 4900 kg. 14 tonnes fuelle. Includes the Crew Module Adapter (CMA) (about 200 kg?) which connects it to the CM. - Spacecraft Adapter Jettison (SAJ) panels 1 to 3, each with a mass of about 433 kg. - Spacecraft Adapter Cone (SAC), connecting the ESM to the OSA, mass 450 kg. The SAC remains with the OSA/ICPS after Orion separates. Orion summary: Launch mass Height Diameter Cumulative mass Cumulative height tonne m m tonne m LAS 7.6 11.3 - 7.6 11.3 to top of CM (15.0 to SM interface) CM 9.4 4.6 5.0 17.0 15.9 SM 14.0 4.8 5.0 31.0 20.0 SAJ/SAC 1.7 - - 32.7 20.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Orion total 32.7t 20.0m SLS summary: Launch mass Height Diameter Cumulative mass Cumulative height tonne m m tonne m RSRMV-1L 726.0 54.7 3.7 726.0 - RSRMV-1R 726.0 54.7 3.7 1452.0 - CS-1 (1088 no engines) CS-1 (+ 14 4 x 3.5t RS-25) CS-1 1102.0 64.6 8.4 2554.0 64.6 (mass includes RS-25 engines) LVSA 4.5 8.4 8.4 2558.5 - (height included in ICPS) IPCS-1 32.7 12.2 5.1 2591.2 76.8 (press kit height of 13.7m includes OSA) OSA 0.8 1.5 5.1 2592.0 78.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SLS Blk1 total 2592.0t 78.3m Orion 32.7 20.0 5.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Estimate SLS + Orion 2624.7t 98.3m Quoted SLS + Orion 2603 t 98.3m Discrepancy: 22 tonnes ========================================================================================================================================================= Comparison with other moonships: Rocket Spaceship Rocket Rocket Dia Rocket Ship Ship Ship Combined Combined Combined Launch Max Altitude Length Diam Launch mass Length Diam. Launch mas Length Diam Launch mas Thrust reached m m tonne m m tonne m m tonne MN km ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturn V Apollo 84.7 10.1 2850 25.0 3.9 50 110.6 10.1 2900 34.0 400,000 N-1 L-3 61.0 16.8 2623 44.3 4.1 102 105.3 14.0 2788 41.4 40 SLS Block 1 Orion 78.3 8.4 2592 20.0 5.0 33 98.3 8.4 2585 39.0 0 (so far) Artemis I rank: 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd (so far) There are other big rockets that were not designed for human lunar missions - notably Energia and Shuttle. ========================================================================================================================================================= Below I give my best estimate of the nominal flight sequence (MET is mission elapsed time in T+dd:hh:mm:ss). Of course the actual flight is likely to diverge significantly from this, but it's a useful fiducial reference. Details of trajectory are based on info from JPL Horizons; as usual, infinite thanks to Jon Giorgini for his work on Horizons. Other sources include NASA press materials, especially the Artemis Reference and the Artemis I press kit. Corrections are welcome. UTC MET 2022 Aug 29 1232:53 T-00:00:00:07 Ignition of RS-25 engines 1233:00 T+00:00:00:00 Launch from Mobile Launch Platform 1 at pad LC39B at Kennedy Space Center along with ignition of the RSRMVs. 1235:12 T+00:00:02:12 RSMRV-1L/1R shutdown and jettison at an altitude of 48 km; fall in Atlantic. 1236:13 T+00:00:03:13 SAJ panels 1 to 3 jettisoned at an altitude of 88 km; fall in Atlantic. 1236:19 T+00:00:03:19 LAS jettison at an altitude of 90? km and velocity 2.03 km/s; fall in Atlantic. 1241:16 T+00:00:08:16 CS-1 (RS-25 1 to 4) MECO (main engine cutoff), altitude 157 km, orbit 30 x 1808 km x 34.4 deg. 1241:16 T+00:00:08:16 CS-1/LVSA separate from ICPS-1/OSA/Orion in 30 x 1808 km orbit. 1251:20 T+00:00:18:20 ESM-1 solar panels deployed, altitude 484 km 1324:22 T+00:00:51:22 ICPS-1 22-second PRM perigee raise burn near apogee at 1791 km; new IPCS/Orion orbit 183 x 1805 km x 34.4 deg 1325:02 T+00:00:52:02 Apogee 1, 1805 km 1411:03 T+00:01:38:03 ICPS-1 17m59s TLI translunar injection burn 1414? T+00:01:41? CS-1/LVSA reentry over Pacific near 130W 18N 1429:02 T+00:01:56:02 ICPS-1 engine cutoff, translunar injection (TLI) in 444 x 373300 km x 34.4 deg orbit 1439:10 T+00:02:06:10 ICPS-1/OSA/SAC separates from Artemis I Orion CM002/ESM-001 at 1.0m/s 1440:31 T+00:02:07:31 USS (Upper Stage Separation) burn: Service Module ESM-001 aux thrusters fire to increase separation rate of Orion from ICPS by 1.7m/s 1503:10 T+00:03:30:10 ICPS-1 disposal burn to escape trajectory, 476 x 380000 km x 34.2 deg orbit? 1513 T+00:03:40 Cubesats Lunar IceCube, OMOTENASHI, EQUULEUS, BioSentinel, ArgoMoon deployed from OSA (on ICPS-1) 1743 T+00:05:10 Cubesat NEA Scout deployed from OSA, 466 x 380125 km x 34.1 deg orbit 1806 T+00:05:33 Cubesat LunaH-Map deployed from OSA 1836 T+00:06:03 Cubesat LunIR deployed from OSA 1936 T+00:07:03 Cubesat Team Miles deployed from OSA 2029:05 T+00:07:56:05 Artemis I ESM-1 OTC-1 trajectory correction burn 1 using aux thrusters 2036 T+00:08:03 Cubesat CuSP deployed from OSA 2022 Aug 30 0531 T+00:16:58 Artemis I now 150,000 km altitude, I enter it in my Deep Space Catalog 2022 Sep 3 0753 T+04:19:20 Artemis I enters lunar Hill Sphere. Lunar hyperbolic orbit 130 x -16721 km x 177.0 deg 1035 T+04:22:02 OMOTENASHI enter lunar Hill sphere, lunar impact hyperbola -1237 x -15271 km x 73.0 deg 2022 Sep 4 0112? T+05:12:39 Artemis I ESM-1 OPF (Outbound Powered Flyby) lunar orbit insertion burn to 141 x 99200 km x 177.0 deg orbit, using OME-111 engine 0120 T+05:12:47 Artemis I perilune 1 at 141 km 0323 T+05:14:50 OMOTENASHI solid motor retro burn 0325? T+05:14:52 OMOTENASHI lunar landing 0423 T+05:15:50 NEA Scout perilune 1 in 1092 x -17800 km x 168.9 deg hyperbolic flyby 2135 T+06:09:02 NEA Scout depart lunar Hill sphere, 217360 x -6.5M km Earth escape trajectory 2022 Sep 5 2041 T+07:08:08 Artemis I depart lunar Hill Sphere 2022 Sep 7 1256 T+09:00:23 Artemis I apolune 2 79600 km, Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) insertion burn?, OME-111 engine 2022 Sep 10 0609 T+11:17:36 Artemis I perilune 2 64400 km 2022 Sep 13 1620 T+15:03:47 Artemis I apolune 3 85000 km 2022 Sep 16 2008 T+18:07:35 Artemis I perilune 3 64600 km 2022 Sep 20 0032 T+21:11:59 Artemis I apolune 4 83800 km 2022 Sep 21 0652 T+22:18:19 Artemis I DRO Departure burn with OME-111 engine 2022 Sep 23 0254 T+24:14:21 Artemis I perilune 4 76300 km 2022 Sep 28 0807 T+29:19:34 Artemis I apolune 5 112900 km, begin lunar approach 0900 T+29:20:27 NEA Scout depart Earth Hill sphere in 0.975 x 1.025 AU x 2.19 deg solar orbit 2022 Oct Artemis I RTC-1 Return Trajectory Correction with Orion Aux thrusters (one of several) 2022 Oct 1 1614 T+33:03:41 Artemis I enter lunar Hill Sphere 2022 Oct 3 0355 T+34:15:22 Artemis I RPF (Return Powered Flyby) transearth injection burn to 998 x -14830 km x 172.2 deg lunar hyperbolic orbit, OME-111 engine 0433 T+34:16:00 Artemis I perilune 5 998 km 2033 T+35:08:00 Artemis I depart lunar Hill Sphere, outbound in -2800 x 409962 km x 38.0 deg Earth orbit 2022 Oct 5 0356 T+36:15:23 Artemis I apogee, 407970 km, begin Earthbound leg 2022 Oct 10 1325 T+42:00:52 Artemis I within GEO 1517? T+42:02:44? ESM-1 jettisoned from CM-002 1537 T+42:03:04 CM-002 altitude 212 km, orbit 53 x 422968 km x 33.0 deg (end of Horizons traj) 1538 T+42:03:05 ESM-1 reentry, burnup over Pacific near 156W 26N 1538 T+42:03:05 CM-002 entry 100 km over Pacific 1541? T+42:03:08 CM-002 main parachutes out 1553 T+42:03:20 CM-002 splashdown NE of Hawaii