The agency said on Friday that the testing campaign for the Space Launch System is over. The Artemis I demonstration mission is the first in a long line of planned missions to eventually return humans to the moon. According to NASA officials, the launch could take place as late as August.
On July 1 or 2, the 322-foot tall rocket will be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where both will be ready for launch. John Blevins, chief engineer of the Space Launch System Program, said Friday that the agency will have six to eight weeks of work before the final roll out. The senior vehicle operations manager for exploration ground systems said that once SLS is back on the launch pad, officials would prepare for liftoff for about a month.
NASA declared the "wet dress rehearsal" (WDR), as the slew of tests is called, complete despite a hydrogen leak issue that caused launch controllers to halt the countdown at T 29 seconds.
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were being loaded into the tanks when a leak was detected in the hydrogen bleed line. Major testing pieces that the agency had yet to put into place were able to be loaded with propellant and then drained from the rocket stages.
There is a testing list. In a new window, NASA has an image.
TomWhitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for common exploration systems development, said that things are looking good for the end of August.
He said that getting through the wet dress was a big deal for them. It gives us some hope that we are still on the right path.
Twelve years have passed since the launch of SLS. It was supposed to be a replacement for the space shuttle. It has been designated as the launch system that will return humans to the moon.
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