NASA officials have announced that the last “wet rehearsal” of the Artemis 1 lunar rocket has been successful and hope that the mission can begin in late August.
Stack Artemis 1 – a Space launch system (SLS) Orion capsule-covered rocket – is scheduled to return to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on July 1, where the massive vehicle will be subjected to repair and preparation for its upcoming launch.
Artemis 1the first launch for the SLS will send without a crew Orion on a month-long mission around The moon. The mission suffered several delays, and the flight’s rocket certification was recently delayed due to incomplete refueling tests – a key part of the wet dress rehearsal, a three-day series of tests designed to assess the readiness of a new vehicle for flight.
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The Artemis 1 stack first moved from VAB to KSC’s Pad 39B in mid-March to prepare for a wet rehearsal that began on April 1st. But three separate attempts to fill the SLS with cryogenic propellants during this effort failed, sending the stack back to VAB for repair on April 25. The last wet dress experiment, which ended on Monday (June 20), did not go well, but NASA did considered good enough to continue with the preparation for launch.
Operators were able to fully load the SLS for the first time, bringing the startup simulation much further than any of the attempts in April. A leak from the umbilical line of the engine cooling system in the main stage was detected during the refueling test on Monday, but mission leaders found that the deviation did not pose a safety risk and continued with the number of simulation terminals. This was ultimately the right decision, said members of the Artemis 1 team.
Mission operators were able to release a leak mask into the ground launch sequencing software, allowing mission control computers to recognize the malfunction without labeling it as a reason to stop the countdown, according to Phil Webber, senior manager. on technical integration in KSC. Weber joined other agency staff at a news conference Friday (June 24th) to discuss plans for Artemis 1 now that the wet dress is in the rearview mirror.
The software mask allowed the count to continue until the transfer from the mission control computers to the automated launch sequencer (ALS) on board the SLS at T-33 seconds, which eventually stopped the count of T-29 seconds.
“[ALS] it really was the reward for us for the day, “Weber said during Friday’s conversation.” We were expecting … this will get us out [of the countdown] because ALS is looking for the same measurement and we don’t have the ability to mask it on board. ”
It was not clear immediately after the recent wet dress whether another would be needed, but members of the mission team later left the matter to rest.
“At this point, we have determined that we have successfully completed the evaluations and the necessary work that we intend to complete for the dress rehearsal,” Tom Whitmeier, deputy administrator of general research systems at NASA headquarters, said in a conversation Friday. He added that NASA teams already have “to continue” with the preparations for the launch of Artemis 1.
However, before it can be returned to the VAB, the stack will undergo additional maintenance in the Pad 39B, including repairs to the quick-release component of the posterior SLS navel, which is responsible for hydrogen leakage on Monday.
There is another test technician to perform on site. Hot ignition of hydraulic power units (HBU), part of the SLS rocket accelerators, was originally part of the wet clothing countdown, but was missed when the countdown was stopped. These tests will be completed by Saturday (June 25), according to Lanham. After the hot fire tests, operators will spend the weekend unloading HBU’s hydrazine fuel.
After returning to VAB, NASA officials estimate that it will take six to eight weeks of work to prepare Artemis 1 to return to site 39B for actual takeoff. Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager at KSC, outlined some of the planned support in Friday’s conversation.
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Among other tasks, technicians will perform standard vehicle inspections, repair hydrogen leaks, “late harvest” for payloads flying on Orion, and software loads to the main and upper stages of the SLS. They will also install flying batteries.
“Ultimately, we want to get to the test of our cancellation system,” Lanham said. “Once this is completed, we will be able to carry out our final inspections in all volumes of the vehicle and complete the closure.”
Once that work is complete, the Artemis 1 stack will exit the VAB again, making an eight- to 11-hour crawl back to Site 39B on July 1. Whitmeyer said Friday that the launch window at the end of August for Artemis 1, which opens on August 23 and lasts a week, is “still on the table.”
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