NASA delays crucial Artemis 1 moon mission test to April 12

The Artemis 1 moon mission's wet dress rehearsal has been delayed by two days.

The agency had planned to restart the wet dress, a practice run of rocket fueling and other important Artemis 1 prelaunch activities at Pad 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission team decided to modify the test procedure after noticing a problem with the helium check valve, which prevents the gas from escaping out of Artemis 1's huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NASA officials explained in an Artemis 1 update today that helium is used to clear engine lines before loading and draining propellant.

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The modified wet dress rehearsal will focus on tanking the SLS core stage and minimal propellant operations on the interim ICPS with the ground systems at Kennedy. The upper stage of the SLS is called the ICPS.

Due to the changes in loading procedures required for the modified test, wet dress rehearsal testing is scheduled to resume with call to stations on Tuesday, April 12 and Thursday, April 14.

The Artemis 1 wet dress rehearsal has been delayed before. The mission team had hoped to finish the test by April 3, after the test got underway on April 1. There were several issues, including a glitch with the fan system on the mobile launch tower.

The test was halted as the Artemis 1 team stood down to accommodate the launch of the Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station. The way for Artemis 1's wet dress to continue was cleared by the departure of Ax-1 from Pad 39A, which is next to 39B.

Artemis 1 will launch an uncrewed spaceship on a mission to the moon. NASA won't set a target launch date until the wet dress rehearsal is complete and teams have analyzed the data, but the mission is unlikely to lift off before June.

If all goes well with Artemis 1, Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 will be able to land astronauts on the moon in the next few years.

Mike Wall is the author of Out There, a book about the search for alien life. You can follow him on the social networking site. We encourage you to follow us on social media.