On Thursday, June 23, NASA declared that they would not continue any more fueling and countdown tests of its moon rocket. The moon rocket will instead be launched in late August at the Kennedy Space Center In Florida.
The Artemis I, a Space Launch System moon rocket, would send the Orion capsule to orbit the moon without any astronauts yet. NASA says that it would be followed shortly after by Artemis II in the year 2024, which would fly 4 astronauts around the moon in the Orion capsule. The first landing is estimated to come in 2025, depending on the success of the earlier missions.
The fueling and countdown test conducted on the week of June 20, known as a “wet dress rehearsal,” completely charged the Space Launch System rocket with thousands of gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. It was interrupted by a hydrogen leak with 29 seconds left on the countdown test.
Even so, NASA officials viewed it as a successful test. “It was a great day,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director, told reporter Christian Davenport after the test. “It was a very successful day, and we accomplished a majority of the objectives that we had not completed in the prior tests.”
Announcements on Thursday declared that having enough data, they could now begin the first-ever launch of the SLS moon rocket to bring astronauts back to the moon. The launch was scheduled to be between August 23 and September 6.
In a statement made by the agency, it revealed, “NASA has reviewed the data from the rehearsal and determined the testing campaign is complete.” “NASA will set a target launch date after replacing hardware associated with the leak,” the agency also said. The NASA agency planned to roll the SLS rocket along with the Orion capsule into the assembly building to repair the hydrogen leak and prepare for the launch of the spacecraft.
The launch mission, costing about 1 billion dollars, marks a new era of the exploration of the universe. Exploring the moon could extend scientists’ knowledge of the universe, provide global partnerships and enable human settlement on the Moon.
Link to Article: SLS moon rocket test declared a success; August launch possible – The Washington Post.pdf
The Artemis I, a Space Launch System moon rocket, would send the Orion capsule to orbit the moon without any astronauts yet. NASA says that it would be followed shortly after by Artemis II in the year 2024, which would fly 4 astronauts around the moon in the Orion capsule. The first landing is estimated to come in 2025, depending on the success of the earlier missions.
The fueling and countdown test conducted on the week of June 20, known as a “wet dress rehearsal,” completely charged the Space Launch System rocket with thousands of gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. It was interrupted by a hydrogen leak with 29 seconds left on the countdown test.
Even so, NASA officials viewed it as a successful test. “It was a great day,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director, told reporter Christian Davenport after the test. “It was a very successful day, and we accomplished a majority of the objectives that we had not completed in the prior tests.”
Announcements on Thursday declared that having enough data, they could now begin the first-ever launch of the SLS moon rocket to bring astronauts back to the moon. The launch was scheduled to be between August 23 and September 6.
In a statement made by the agency, it revealed, “NASA has reviewed the data from the rehearsal and determined the testing campaign is complete.” “NASA will set a target launch date after replacing hardware associated with the leak,” the agency also said. The NASA agency planned to roll the SLS rocket along with the Orion capsule into the assembly building to repair the hydrogen leak and prepare for the launch of the spacecraft.
The launch mission, costing about 1 billion dollars, marks a new era of the exploration of the universe. Exploring the moon could extend scientists’ knowledge of the universe, provide global partnerships and enable human settlement on the Moon.
Link to Article: SLS moon rocket test declared a success; August launch possible – The Washington Post.pdf
