NASA fired back at Artemis 1 on Saturday (September 3) for the second time in a week. The US space agency had to terminate the mission due to a leak of liquid hydrogen during fueling of the rocket engine tanks. While a team of engineers highly skilled in rocket technology could not fix the problem, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a proposal that will finally lead astronauts to the lunar surface after decades.
Ars Technica’s Eric Berger explained that the US space agency has a tolerance for a small amount of hydrogen leakage, and anything above a 4 percent hydrogen concentration near “quick disconnect” is considered a flammability risk. In response, Musk said that the design of the Raptor started using H2 (hydrogen), but changed to CH4 (hydrogen), which is the best combination of high performance and ease of operation. He stated, “The Delta-v difference between H2 and CH4 is small for most missions because the CH4 tank is much smaller and does not need insulation.”
Here, delta-v is the velocity difference that a rocket engine can apply to a spacecraft as a function of specific thrust and the mass variation of the vehicle itself.
According to Musk, CH4 (methane) is easier to produce on Mars and is “very important” for launch missions. His SpaceX is one of the first companies to use liquid methane and hydrogen as rocket fuel.
According to the report, NASA’s Artemis spacecraft has an 8-inch-diameter line that carries liquid hydrogen to the rocket that “caused a persistent leak at the inlet, known as a fast disconnect, leading into the vehicle.”
NASA has scheduled the next launch window from September 19 to October 4. “, the report said.
Meanwhile, the space agency has another chance to launch Artemis I from Oct. 17 to Oct. 31.
