Watch the last lunar rocket Artemis test before launching

Three previous attempts to train in wet clothing were unsuccessful in April and ended before the rocket was fully loaded with fuel due to various leaks. NASA says these bugs have since been corrected.

On June 6, a NASA team rolled a 322-foot (98 m) stack of Artemis I rockets, including the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft, onto a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Wet test steps

The rehearsal began on Saturday at 17:00 ET with Call to Stations – when all the teams involved in the mission arrive at their consoles and announce that they are ready to start testing, and the two-day countdown begins.

In preparation for the weekend, the Artemis team will begin loading fuel into the rocket’s core and upper stages.

The tanks were shut down on Monday morning due to a problem with the supply of a gaseous nitrogen reserve. The start command replaced the valve that caused the problem. To ensure that the backup source is working as intended, it has been replaced as the primary source for today’s test.

The comment was canceled at 9:28 a.m. ET. Liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 182 degrees Celsius) and liquid hydrogen were used to fill the core stage before moving to the top of the rocket. The vent from the rocket was visible throughout the operation.

The base stage was mostly filled, and the team filled the top stage when after. There were several issues with 14:00 ET.

The team has detected a hydrogen leak in the rapid core phase separation line and is preventing it. Their first choice did not work and they are looking for another way to close the leak.

Something from a pile of glow, where excess liquid hydrogen from a rocket we burn with a propane flame, causes a small fire in the hall on the dirt road. The team monitors grass fires and does not expect this to become a problem, as it is likely to put out the fire once it reaches the dirt road.

After successfully solving the pressure problem, the liquid oxygen flowed to the upper stage. Currently, three of the four tanks are full.

The test now has to wait 30 minutes, allowing the start-up team to catch up, although the suspension is extended, while engineers try to work on hydrogen leakage solutions.

Countdown

A two-hour test window will then begin. The Artemis team aimed for the first countdown at 16:28 ET, but this was changed due to a delay. No new time has been announced.

First, the team members It will count to 33 seconds before starting, then stop the cycle. The clock will be reset; The countdown will then resume and take about 10 seconds to start.

According to an update on the NASA website: “During the test, the team may maintain the countdown to verify the conditions before resuming the countdown, or extend the test window if necessary and resources allow.”

Previous attempts to train in wet weather have already achieved many goals to prepare the rocket for launch, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, head of NASA’s Artemis Earth Systems program launch, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

“Hopefully this time we can finish it and complete the cryogenic loading with the final number,” she said. “Our team is ready to go and we look forward to returning to this test.”

When the Artemis rocket team completes its attempt, it will return to the space assembly vehicle assembly building to await launch.

The tiring testing of new systems before launch has a long history, and the Artemis team faces experience similar to that of the Apollo and Shuttle era teams, including several test attempts and delays.

“No person on the team is relinquishing the responsibility we have to take responsibility for managing ourselves and our contractors and delivering and delivering assets that meet these (Artemis I) flight test objectives and meet Artemis I objectives,” said Jim Frey. , Associate Administrator, NASA’s Research Systems Development Mission Directorate, at a news conference last week.