NASA claims its SLS rocket is ready to launch, despite the lack of a final fueling and countdown test. NASA says that they will fix a hydrogen leak on the craft, after which the rocket will be placed on the launchpad for a planned departure in August.
NASA took the SLS rocket through what they called a “wet dress rehearsal” this week. The Space Launch System’s (SLS) two stages were filled with 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The test failed to finish because the stimulated countdown was interrupted by a hydrogen leak.
NASA was still happy with the results. “It was a great day,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the director of the Artemis launch said. “It was a very successful day, and we accomplished a majority of the objectives that we had not completed in the prior.” Even after Charlie Blackwell-Thompson noted this, officials in NASA wondered if they should perform a fifth and final test, but they soon asserted that their rocket was tested enough, and they had the data to continue with their mission
Although they hadn’t run extra tests, NASA said that the rocket was ready to launch. “NASA has reviewed the data from the rehearsal and determined the testing campaign is complete,” the agency said, holding their stance that they were ready to launch. The agency decided they would repair the leak by replacing hardware associated with it inside the assembly building. This meant that they would have to roll the rocket and the Orion crew capsule to do so.
After repairing the leak, NASA planned to launch on a specific date, and says the launch would be known as Artemis I, which would commence between August the 23rd and September the 6th. This launch would send the rocket into space alone, and the Artemis II spacecraft planned to come into space in 2024, with the first landing to happen one year later.
NASA took the SLS rocket through what they called a “wet dress rehearsal” this week. The Space Launch System’s (SLS) two stages were filled with 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The test failed to finish because the stimulated countdown was interrupted by a hydrogen leak.
NASA was still happy with the results. “It was a great day,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the director of the Artemis launch said. “It was a very successful day, and we accomplished a majority of the objectives that we had not completed in the prior.” Even after Charlie Blackwell-Thompson noted this, officials in NASA wondered if they should perform a fifth and final test, but they soon asserted that their rocket was tested enough, and they had the data to continue with their mission
Although they hadn’t run extra tests, NASA said that the rocket was ready to launch. “NASA has reviewed the data from the rehearsal and determined the testing campaign is complete,” the agency said, holding their stance that they were ready to launch. The agency decided they would repair the leak by replacing hardware associated with it inside the assembly building. This meant that they would have to roll the rocket and the Orion crew capsule to do so.
After repairing the leak, NASA planned to launch on a specific date, and says the launch would be known as Artemis I, which would commence between August the 23rd and September the 6th. This launch would send the rocket into space alone, and the Artemis II spacecraft planned to come into space in 2024, with the first landing to happen one year later.
