Weeks after NASA decided to postpone testing its next-generation Space Launch System to repair the rocket, it is ready to try again. Starting at 00:01 on June 6, technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will begin launching the spacecraft from the facility’s assembly building. It will take NASA approximately eight to 12 hours to transport Artemis 1 four miles to launch site 39B, and the agency plans to broadcast part of the event live on YouTube.
As Space.com points out, one-night deployment is a discount to utility. Moving the vehicle at night means that NASA can avoid exposing it to the worst hot and humid weather in Florida during the day. After Artemis 1 returns to 39B, NASA plans to restart the rocket’s “wet rehearsal” on June 19. The test is designed to replicate the countdown procedure that will pass when the Artemis 1 mission hopes to begin later this year.
After an initial attempt on April 1, NASA tried to complete a modified version of the test on April 14, but this was interrupted after technicians discovered a hydrogen leak in the SLS’s mobile launch tower. Eventually, NASA decided to return the rocket back to the vehicle assembly building to fix problems that had arisen in previous testing attempts and to give the nitrogen gas supplier time to complete the capacity upgrades.
Provided there are no further failures, the attempt to refuel on June 19 will take about 48 hours. If all goes according to plan, the earliest Artemis 1 to start is July 26, although it is among the dozens of potential launch dates that NASA has drawn between now and the end of 2022, with more dates available. next year.
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