Artemis I Launch [Version for Sep 3 attempt] ---------------- The first launch of the SLS rocket is now scheduled for 0604:00 UTC on 2022 Nov 16. 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 AJ10-190 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 Nov 16 0603:53 T-00:00:00:07 Ignition of RS-25 engines 0604:00 T+00:00:00:00 Launch from Mobile Launch Platform 1 at pad LC39B at Kennedy Space Center along with ignition of the RSRMVs. 0606:12 T+00:00:02:12 RSMRV-1L/1R shutdown and jettison at an altitude of 48 km; fall in Atlantic. 0607:11 T+00:00:03:11 SAJ panels 1 to 3 jettisoned at an altitude of 88 km; fall in Atlantic. 0607:16 T+00:00:03:16 LAS jettison at an altitude of 90? km and velocity 2.03 km/s; fall in Atlantic. 0609:24? T+00:00:05:24 RSRMVs splash down in Atlantic 0612:03 T+00:00:08:03 CS-1 (RS-25 1 to 4) MECO (main engine cutoff), altitude 157 km, orbit 30 x 1808 km x 34? deg. 0612:15 T+00:00:08:15 CS-1/LVSA separate from ICPS-1/OSA/Orion in 30 x 1808 km orbit. 0622:09 T+00:00:18:09 ESM-1 solar panels deployed, altitude 484 km 0656:02? T+00:00:52:02 Apogee 1, 1810 km 0656:56 T+00:00:52:56 ICPS-1 22-second PRM perigee raise burn near apogee at 1791 km; new IPCS/Orion orbit 181 x 1808 km x 34? deg 0733:27 T+00:01:29:27 ICPS-1 18m TLI translunar injection burn begins, altitude 388 km 0744? T+00:01:40 Artemis/IPCS perigee at 247 km 0750? T+00:01:46 CS-1/LVSA reentry over Pacific near 129W 15N 0751:26 T+00:01:47:26 ICPS-1 engine cutoff, translunar injection (TLI) in 466 x 378042 km x 34.0 deg 0801:36 T+00:01:57:36 ICPS-1/OSA/SAC separates from Artemis I Orion CM002/ESM-001 at 1.0m/s 0802:58 T+00:01:58:58 USS (Upper Stage Separation) burn: Service Module ESM-001 aux thrusters fire to increase separation rate of Orion from ICPS by 1.7m/s 0925:36 T+00:03:21:36 ICPS-1 disposal burn to escape trajectory, 476 x 380000 km x 34 deg orbit? 0944 T+00:03:40 Cubesats Lunar IceCube, OMOTENASHI, EQUULEUS, BioSentinel, ArgoMoon deployed from OSA (on ICPS-1) to 486 x 377867 x 33.8 deg orbit 1114 T+00:05:10 Cubesat NEA Scout deployed from OSA, 486 x 377868 km x 33.8 deg orbit 1137 T+00:05:33 Cubesat LunaH-Map deployed from OSA 1207 T+00:06:03 Cubesat LunIR deployed from OSA 1307 T+00:07:03 Cubesat Team Miles deployed from OSA 1351:31 T+00:07:47:31 Artemis I ESM-1 OTC-1 trajectory correction burn 1 using aux thrusters 1407 T+00:08:03 Cubesat CuSP deployed from OSA 2254 T+00:16:50 Artemis I now 150,000 km altitude, I enter it in my Deep Space Catalog 2257 T+00:16:53 ICPS-1 and cubesats now 150,000 km altitude, I enter them in my Deep Space Catalog 2022 Nov 20 1910 T+04:13:06 Artemis I enters lunar Hill Sphere. Lunar hyperbolic orbit 139 x -17710 km x 173.7 deg 2147 T+04:15:43 NEA Scout enter lunar Hill sphere, lunar flyby hyperbola 1149 T+04:17:32 OMOTENASHI enter lunar Hill sphere, lunar impact hyperbola -1477 x -16222 km x 48.7 deg 1253 T+04:18:36 Artemis I local apogee, 366585 km 2022 Nov 21 1244 T+05:06:40 Artemis I ESM-1 OPF (Outbound Powered Flyby) lunar orbit insertion burn to 129 x 133215 km x 173.7 deg orbit, using OME-111 engine 1258 T+05:06:54 Artemis I perilune 1 at 139 km 1528? T+05:09:24 OMOTENASHI solid motor retro burn 1528? T+05:09:24 OMOTENASHI lunar landing 1612 T+05:10:08 NEA Scout perilune 1 in 2583 x -20306 km x 164.0 deg hyperbolic flyby 2022 Nov 22 1010 T+06:04:06 NEA Scout depart lunar Hill sphere, 138300 x 1266200 km x 40.8 deg Earth near-escape trajectory 2022 Nov 23 0353 T+06:21:49 Artemis I depart lunar Hill Sphere 2022 Nov 25 1338 T+09:07:34 Artemis I apolune 1 92710 km 2022 Nov 25 2152 T+09:15:48 Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) insertion burn, OME-111 engine 2022 Nov 28 2026 T+12:14:22 Artemis I perilune 2 69272 km 2022 Nov 28 2105 T+12:15:01 Artemis I overall apogee 480494 km 2022 Dec 1 2153 T+16:15:49 Artemis I DRO Departure burn with OME-111 engine, -1467 x 86468 x 35.6 2022 Dec 1 2157 T+16:15:53 Artemis I apolune 2 86336 km 2022 Dec 3 2255 T+18:16:51 Artemis I enter lunar Hill Sphere on 129 x 108822 km x 162.2 deg orbit 2022 Dec 5 1628 T+20:10:24 Artemis I perilune 3 130 km 2022 Dec 5 1628 T+20:10:24 Artemis I RPF (Return Powered Flyby) transearth injection burn to 133 x -14093 km x 158.1 deg lunar hyperbolic orbit, OME-111 engine 2022 Dec Artemis I RTC-1 Return Trajectory Correction with Orion Aux thrusters (one of several) 2022 Dec 6 0716 T+21:01:14 Artemis I depart lunar Hill Sphere, outbound in 1050 x 396229 km x 92.7 deg Earth orbit 2022 Dec 6 1020 T+21:04:16 Artemis I apogee, 396229 km, begin Earthbound leg 2022 Dec 11 1507 T+25:09:03 Artemis I within GEO 1714? T+25:11:10? ESM-1 jettisoned from CM-002 1724 T+25:11:20 CM-002 altitude 212 km, orbit 45 x 393042 km x 85.7 deg 1725 T+25:11:21 ESM-1 reentry, burnup over Pacific near 156W 26N 1725 T+25:11:21 CM-002 entry 100 km over Pacific 1728 T+25:11:24 CM-002 main parachutes out 1740 T+25:11:36 CM-002 splashdown NE of Hawaii 2023 Feb 1 0130 T+76:19:26 NEA Scout depart Earth Hill sphere in 0.970 x 1.025 AU x 2.12 deg solar orbit