Washington, After halting the “wet rehearsal” of the Artemis 1 lunar rocket several times, NASA has successfully completed the crucial refueling test of its Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket.
A wet rehearsal for Artemis 1 ended at 7:37 p.m. EDT on June 20, NASA said in a statement.
“This is the first time the team has fully refueled all of SLS’s fuel tanks and continued to count down the launch terminal, when many critical activities have occurred in rapid succession, the US space agency said.
However, the test did not go smoothly.
During refueling operations, the team encountered a leak of hydrogen in the quick disconnect, which attached the umbilical tube from the tail service mast of the mobile launcher to the main stage of the rocket.
While the team tried to fix the leak by warming up the quick break and then cooling it back to align the seal, their efforts did not fix the problem, NASA said.
The team then deliberately “masked” data related to the problem to allow the countdown to continue. During a real start countdown, such data would raise red flags. That change meant a delay, “but they were able to resume the last 10 minutes of the countdown,” NASA said.
“Today’s rehearsals of #Artemis I wet dresses ended after a modified countdown configuration and the successful addition of fuel to the rocket. We will review the data and meet to discuss the next steps, “mission officials wrote on Twitter.
The final test is the culmination of months of assembly and testing for SLS and Orion, as well as preparation by launch control teams and engineering teams, and lays the groundwork for Artemis’ first launch.
Artemis 1 was previously scheduled to launch in late May 2022. However, due to numerous delays in its wet dress rehearsal, the mega-lunar rocket was pushed further.
The success of the latest test could pave the way for its first launch in August, NASA said earlier.
The unmanned Artemis I mission is the first flight of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft together. Future missions will send people to work in lunar orbit and on the surface of the moon.
NASA’s Artemis missions will land the first woman and the first man of color on the moon and establish long-term research in preparation for missions to Mars.
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