After a one - week hold , NASA is set to resume its dry run of the Space Launch System , albeit with some very significant steps left out . Ground controllers wo n’t be completing the psychometric test as planned , fire care about the status of the Artemis 1 mission and the potential pauperism for yet another wet apparel dry run .
The call to stations at Kennedy Space Center is schedule for 5:00 p.m. EDT today , as engineer resume the SLS wet frock rehearsal , in which the projectile is loaded with propellant and a countdown is stopped just prior to the ignition of the Congress of Racial Equality stage ’s four RS-25 engines . These mental testing are in provision for the Artemis 1 foreign mission , in which SLS will send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a trek to the Moon and back . NASA ’s current plan is to do the initiative launching in June , but this seems increasingly unlikely given how poorly the current wet garb rehearsal has gone , even if the issues are comparatively minor in nature .
“ The modified test will enable engineers to attain the examination objectives vital to launch achiever , ” a NASApress releasereads .
SLS on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Photo: ASA/Joel Kowsky
Tanking , in which cryogenic propellants are tot up to the garden rocket , is be after for Thursday , but with one rather flagrant skip . The core level will be filled with liquid atomic number 8 and liquid hydrogen , but only “ minimal propellant operations ” will be performed on the “ interim cryogenic actuation stage , ” NASA tell in an April 9statement . And as NASA official explained at a media teleconference yesterday , the reason has to do with a helium hinderance valve that ’s not function properly .
The one - way check valve was not operating in the correct way , as it was allowing helium to flow in both direction , John Blevins , SLS honcho engineer , separate reporters . “ It ’s a very small-scale part , ” he added , saying “ it ’s so diminished you’re able to put it in your pocket . ”
Oof — the test of a 322 - foot - tall ( 98 - meter - improbable ) arugula at Launch Complex 39B is being contain up by an industry criterion , yet faulty , three - in long check valve . It ’s another in what ’s now a long string of minor problem . Torecap , the original SLS wet frock , which began on Friday April 1 , was disrupt by two faulty ventilation lover on the mobile rocket launcher , an issue with the third - company provider of gaseous atomic number 7 , a misconfigured manual outlet valve , and a temperature breeching issue that happened during tanking ( not to mention a batch oflightning strike ) . As a result of these problems , NASA has n’t been capable to complete the wet apparel .
Despite these matter , the “ mega Moon rocket is in great shape , ” sound out Tom Whitmeyer , deputy associate administrator for common geographic expedition systems growing at NASA , at the press conference . “ We ’re gon na get a peck more data out of it on Thursday , ” he total .
But that datum wo n’t admit the tanking of the SLS second stage , among other item on NASA ’s do - to number . The check-out procedure valve is locate on the 2nd stage , and it ’s “ easy to get to and well-heeled to change out , ” but only once the rocket is cart back to the Vehicle Assembly Building ( VAB ) , Blevins explain .
At the jam league , Charlie Blackwell - Thompson , Artemis launch director , said “ we conceive that this is the best pick for proceed forward , ” and that “ we ’ll be able-bodied to meet the majority of our mental test objectives ” as the test will “ provide us with a fairly good stage set of data point prior ” to hustle SLS back to the VAB . Blackwell - Thompson and her colleagues came up with a programme that leverage a very authoritative fact : SLS is still on the launch pad , and it would be a waste to not take full reward of it . Accordingly , the team will complete the limited test , rove the rocket back to the VAB , and “ let the data point conduce us , ” she said . Whitmeyer said “ there ’s a value of adopt a step - by - step plan of attack . ”
Sounds strange to not finish a full - fledged wet dress rehearsal for such an important rocket , but as I see it , this situation leave NASA with two choice : schedule a second crocked dress rehearsal in the nigh futurity or execute the Artemis 1 launching with incomplete data . As Blackwell - Thompson put it , “ we will be missing shipment surgery for the upper phase itself . ” The 2d choice seems altogether farfetched due to the preposterous level of risk regard ( at least that ’s how I see it ) , leading me to believe that NASA will perform another full - fledged rehearsal soon . I ’m forced to hypothesize , however , as the NASA officials refrained from answer this very question during the metier teleconferencing .
And in fact , the entire presser was an exercise in frustration as answers from the NASA team were equivocal , overly - technical , and non - committal . At the same time , the panel check reporters that the “ fomite is in really undecomposed stipulation , ” as Blevins tell . Blackwell - Thompson accent that the wet dress has already yield a horn of plenty of critically worthful information , including a demonstration of the cryogenic loading of the core stage , acquiring data on Orion and SLS launch conformation during tanking , and the recycling of the countdown clock , among many other primary and secondary object glass .
The Artemis mission coach gave a more clear - cut answer when asked about the coming Artemis 1 launching windows . Mike Sarafin said the next three window are as follows : June 1 to 16 , June 29 to July 17 , and July 26 to August 9 . Sarafin say these periods involve idealistic Moon - Earth alignments .
I ’m already mentally preparing for a 2nd full - fledged and unmodified sozzled dress rehearsal , but that wo n’t happen any time presently , should NASA decide on a re - do . Blackwell - Thompson enounce SLS will pluck back to the VAB some ten days after the completion of the change blotto dress , which is currently schedule to cease on Thursday . A review of the data will follow , along with the replacement of the incorrect check valve , in add-on to any other take tweaks . And then we ’ll have to wait for NASA ’s decision on next footfall .
Suddenly , alternatively of forestall a launch in early June , we ’re once again in waiting mode , wondering when we ’ll ever get to see this magnificent rocket salad rainfly .
Artemis 1Artemis programLunar GatewayMike SarafinNASASpaceflight
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