The test campaign of NASA’s super-large, super-expensive space launch system is now complete, the agency said on Friday. All that is left now for the rocket is the launch of the Artemis I demonstration mission to the moon, the first in a long series of planned missions that will eventually bring people back to the lunar surface by the middle of the decade. The launch could take place in late August, NASA officials said.
The agency will return the 322-foot-high rocket and the Orion spacecraft back to the vehicle assembly building, an assembly hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, on July 1 or 2, where both will be prepared for launch. From now on, the agency will have approximately six to eight weeks of work before what is due to be finalized, said John Blevins, chief engineer of the space launch program, on Friday. Once the SLS returns to the launch site, employees will spend about 10-14 days preparing to take off, added Cliff Lanham, senior operational manager of vehicles for ground research systems.
NASA has announced the “wet dress rehearsal” (WDR), as the series of tests is called, as complete despite a hydrogen leak problem that caused launch controllers to stop counting down to T-29 seconds (officials aimed to count to T -9.34 seconds, just before the engine starts).
The leak was found in the hydrogen discharge line during the refueling process, when hundreds of thousands of gallons of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were being charged into the tanks. But despite the leak problems, the agency was able to refuel the two stages of the rocket with fuel and then drain them – major test pieces that the agency has not yet put in place.
SLS test checklist. Image Credits: NASA (opens in new window)
Until officials gave an exact launch date, Tom Whitmeier, deputy associate administrator for developing common survey systems, said things looked good for the end of August.
“We feel that going through the wet dress was an important stage for us,” he said. “It gives us some confidence that we’re still on the right track.”
The first launch of SLS this year will be 12 years in the making. It was originally envisioned by Congress and NASA as a replacement for the space shuttle. It is now defined as a launch system that will eventually bring people back to the moon – no small honor, considering all things.
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