The launch of the SLS at the center of the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon has been delayed once again because of a testing glitch.
The space agency admitted this week that the test launch for its SLS rocket ahead of the Artemis 1 launch has once again been pushed back due to the fact that one of the rocket's engine flight controllers has a brain.
The Aerojet RocketdyneRS-25 engines that make up the SLS are not new, but they have been modified to the specifications of the Space Shuttle program.
It is odd that any of these engines have problems, given that they all tested well during preliminary and integrated testing, but the SLS was supposed to launch five years ago.
After discovering this latest SLS issue and attempting to fix it, engineers decided to replace the problematic controller with a new one, bringing the rocket back to full capacity.
The SLS program has been plagued by delays throughout its 11-year history, but if this were the first time this rocket had had problems it would be on thing.
The funding approval for the SLS took place in 2010 when Barack Obama was barely greying. The rocket was supposed to launch in 2016 but has been delayed many times due to technical difficulties.
Despite all the issues, Northup Grumman is set to get another $3.19 billion contract from NASA for SLS booster production, which is contractorspeak for throwing money at a problem. The SLS took $2 billion to build, but now it takes $3 billion in taxpayer dollars.
It would be awesome if the SLS could launch in the spring. If Artemis 1 is to get to the Moon and back, NASA may well try to do so with another rocket.
NASA delayed the launch of its megarocket because of testing glitch.
The SLS is probably the last rocket NASA will ever build.
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