The fourth attempt for the final test before launch began on Saturday, and the rocket is expected to start loading on Monday morning.
The crucial test, known as the wet dress rehearsal, simulates each stage of the launch without the rocket leaving the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This process involves refueling, going through a full countdown, simulating a launch, resetting the countdown clock, and draining the rocket tanks.
The results of the wet dress rehearsal will determine when Artemis I, unmanned, will embark on a mission that goes beyond the moon and returns to Earth. This mission will launch NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to bring people back to the moon and land the first woman and the first man of color on the lunar surface by 2025.
Three previous attempts at a wet dress rehearsal in April failed, ending before the rocket was fully refueled due to various leaks. They have been corrected since then, NASA said.
The NASA team rolled a 322-foot (98-meter) Artemis I rocket stack, including the space launch system and the Orion spacecraft, back to the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 6.
Wet dress rehearsal: What to expect
A wet rehearsal began at 17:00 ET Saturday with a “call to the stations” – when all teams related to the mission arrive at their consoles and report that they are ready to start the test and a two-day countdown begins.
Preparations over the weekend will prepare the Artemis team to begin refueling the rocket’s core and upper stages.
There is currently a live view of the rocket on NASA’s website, with periodic comments.
The chairman of the mission management team gave the opportunity to start refueling, but the team is waiting for the launch director to officially decide when to start.
The tank is currently on hold due to a problem identified with the backup nitrogen supply. The startup team has already replaced the valve causing the problem. Detention can last up to 90 minutes.
A two-hour test window will begin later Monday, with the Artemis team heading to the first countdown at 14:40 ET.
First, team members will go through a countdown to 33 seconds before starting, after which they will stop the cycle. The clock will be reset; then the countdown will resume and continue for about 10 seconds before starting.
“During the test, the team may hold back during the countdown, if necessary, to check the conditions before continuing the countdown, or continue beyond the test window, if necessary and resources allow,” according to an update on the website. NASA.
Previous attempts at wet rehearsals have already completed many targets for preparing the rocket for launch, said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis’ director of launch for NASA’s ground-based research program, at a news conference Wednesday.
“We hope to complete them this time and go through the cryogenic charging operations along with the number of terminals,” she said. “Our team is ready to go and we look forward to returning to this test.”
The mission team is examining possible launch windows to send Artemis I on a trip to the moon in late summer: August 23 to August 29, September 2 to September 6 and beyond.
Once the Artemis rocket completes its wet dress rehearsal, it will return to the space center’s vehicle assembly building to await launch day.
There is a long history behind the difficult testing of new systems before launch, and the Artemis team is facing similar experiences as those of the Apollo and shuttle-era teams, including numerous testing attempts and delays.
“There is not a single person on the team who runs away from the responsibility that we have to manage ourselves and our contractors and deliver and deliver means to achieve these goals for flight tests for (Artemis I) and to meet the goals of the Artemis I program” said Jim Free, an associate administrator in NASA’s Research Systems Development Mission Directorate, at a news conference last week.
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