SpaceCrew aboard and hatch closed
The rocket is fueled and the crew is on the way to the pad. With the closeout crew in the White Room, you get the astronauts aboard and sealed inside: suit checks, communication checks, the crew module hatch, the hatch service panel and the launch abort system hatch, until the closeout crew leaves the pad and hands the count to the launch control team. It follows how NASA ran it for Artemis II.
Free to startScenarios
- Everything nominal: the closeout runs on time and the closeout crew leaves the pad.
- A sensor shows a higher temperature than expected and engineers judge it an instrumentation issue.
- Engineers resolve an issue with the flight termination system link while technicians close the launch abort system hatch.
The steps
- During suit-up, check each suit for leaks and confirm the connecting life support systems, air and power, are operating normally.
- Put the pad rescue team in position to respond at once to an emergency, and bring the closeout crew to the pad.
- Bring the crew up the fixed service structure and along the crew access arm to the White Room.
- Help the astronauts don helmets and gloves, board the spacecraft and buckle in.
- Run the communication checks with mission control and the onboard systems, then the suit leak checks.
- Close the crew module hatch: inspect the seals, secure the fasteners, run the counterbalance mechanism and the hatch seal pressure decay checks.
- Install the crew module hatch service panel and confirm everything around the hatch is sealed.
- Close the launch abort system hatch: check its alignment, engage the locking mechanisms and confirm pressure integrity.
- The closeout crew leaves the pad and the launch control team takes over the final countdown.
To pass
- Suit leak checks and communication checks done before the hatches close.
- Both hatches closed with their seal and pressure checks, the service panel installed.
- The closeout crew off the pad and the count in the hands of the launch control team.
Official source
Artemis II Launch Day Updates
NASA publishes its Artemis II launch day updates free: suit-up, the White Room, both hatch closures and the closeout crew's departure, with their times.
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