The Artemis 1 moon rocket's most recent wet dress rehearsal was declared a success by NASA officials and they are hopeful the mission can get off the ground as soon as August.
On July 1, the Artemis 1 stack will return to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will undergo repairs.
Artemis 1 is the first launch for the SLS and will send an uncrewed Orion to the moon. The rocket's certification to fly has been held up by incomplete fueling tests, a key part of the wet dress rehearsal, a three day series of trials designed to gauge a new vehicle's readiness for flight.
Photos explain NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission.
The Artemis 1 stack began rolling from the VAB to the Pad 39B in March to prepare for the wet dress rehearsal that began on April 1. The stack was sent back to the VAB for repairs after three separate attempts to fill the SLS failed. The most recent wet dress try, which ended on Monday, wasn't perfect, but NASA decided it was good enough to proceed with preparations for launch.
For the first time, operators were able to fully fuel SLS, bringing the simulation much further along than any of the attempts in April. During Monday's fueling test, a leak from the engine cooling system's "umbilical" line was detected, but mission managers determined that the deviation didn't pose a safety risk and continued with the simulation. Artemis 1 team members said that the decision was correct.
Phil Weber, senior technical integration manager at KSC, said that mission operators were able to run a "mask" for the leak in the ground launch sequencer software, which allowed computers in mission control to acknowledge the malfunction. Weber joined other agency officials on a press call to discuss the plans for Artemis 1 now that the wet dress is in the back of the mirror.
The count was terminated at T29 seconds after the handoff from the mission control computers to theALS aboard the SLS.
Weber saidALS was the prize for the day. It was going to break us out because we don't have the ability to mask it on the boat.
Mission team members put to rest the question of if another dress would be required after the recent wet dress.
Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems at NASA headquarters, said on Friday's call that the evaluations and required work have been completed. He said that NASA teams have the go ahead to proceed with their preparations.
Repairs to the SLS umbilical, which was responsible for Monday's hydrogen leak, will be carried out at Pad 39B before the stack can be returned to the VAB.
One more technician needs to work at the pad. The part of the SLS' solid rocket boosters that were hot-fired was not included in the wet dress count. The tests will be done by Saturday. Operators will spend the weekend unloading the hydrazine fuel.
It will take six to eight weeks of work to get Artemis 1 ready to roll back to Pad 39B for an actual liftoff. Some of the planned maintenance was outlined by the senior vehicle operations manager.
NASA has a program to explore the moon.
Software loads to the SLS core stage and upper stage will be among the tasks performed by technicians. Flight batteries will also be installed.
We want to get to the testing of the flight terminated system. We will be able to do our final inspections in all the volumes of the vehicle once that is completed.
After that work is done, the Artemis 1 stack will roll out from the VAB once again, making the eight to 11 hour crawl back to Pad 39B on July 1 a thing of the past. The late August launch window for Artemis 1 is still on the table.
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