Lightning struck Artemis I mission’s megarocket launch pad during tests

Lightning strikes

On April 2nd, NASA confirmed that three minor bolts of lightning had struck the launch site. The lightning towers built alongside the length of the rockets for essentially this purpose took the hits of the low-intensity strikes. A fourth, higher intensity strike hit tower one when the core stage of the rocket and the Orion spacecraft in which the crew are scheduled to travel were powered up. 

After reviewing the data, the NASA team decided to continue with the testing and put in some extra hours to make up for the time lost due to inclement weather. However, multiple other snags hit the dress rehearsal, the space agency confirmed over the following days. 

Issues that affected Artemis wet dress rehearsal

On April 3rd, two fans pressurizing the mobile launcher and keeping the hazardous gases out failed, preventing the technicians from loading the liquid propellants in the rocket's core and interim propulsion stages, NASA said in another blog post. 

After the fan issue was resolved, a valve issue in the ground equipment stopped the fueling attempt, NASA wrote in a tweet. 

Due the vent valve issue, the launch director has called off the test for the day. The team is preparing to offload LOX and will begin discussing how quickly the vehicle can be turned around for the next attempt. A lot of great learning and progress today.-JP

— NASA's Exploration Ground Systems (@NASAGroundSys) April 4, 2022

This was NASA's second attempt to fuel the rocket stages. Although the team could complete the fueling attempt, it managed to develop a new procedure for loading the liquid oxygen and filled it up to 50 percent before the attempt had to be aborted. 

It is unclear if the space agency will carry out a third attempt to refuel the rocket on Tuesday again. The wet-dress rehearsal has already pushed forward a private launch mission to the International Space Station, Space.com reported.