There is one more hurdle to clear before the historic launch of the SLS. The Wet Dress Rehearsal is a series of operations that will take place at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The big launch of the SLS from the Vehicle Assembly Building on March 17th has led to this test.
The Wet Dress Rehearsal will run from Friday, April 1st to Sunday, April 3rd, and will see the Artemis I launch team load propellant into the rocket's tanks, conduct a full launch countdown, and also demonstrate the ability to recycle the clock. The weekend-long event will be live-streamed.
Engineers will demonstrate the ability to conduct a full launch at the pad during the test. This will include loading over a million gallons of propellant into the SLS rocket and draining it. The Artemis I launch control team powered up the SLS's core stage at around 03:00 AM EDT on Friday and began the countdown.
They will be running a final pre-launch walkdown and charging the flight batteries throughout the day. Depending on the weather, tanking operations will take place on Sunday. This is important since the weather constraints state that there must be less than a 20% chance of lighting within 8.25 km (5 nautical miles) of the pad during the first hour, winds must not be above 69.45 km/h (37.5 knots) and the temperature cannot be below
According to NASA, there is less than a 5% chance of lightning and a 10% chance of winds greater than 23 knots tomorrow. NASA will provide live video of the rocket on the launchpad for the duration of the test and will host a post-media teleconference with key NASA and Artemis mission personnel on April 4th.
NASA will be ready for the Artemis I mission, which is scheduled to take place in June, with this test complete. The first crewed flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft will take place in May of 2024, with a four-person crew conducting a circumlunar flight. The return to the Moon with Artemis III will consist of a four-person crew and a two-person lunar landing.
The last crucial step before launch is on the Kennedy Newsroom channel.
Further reading: NASA.
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