NASA has begun the last key test of the mammoth Moon rocket.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Two important tests of NASA’s huge Space Launch System (SLS) rocket have begun. The two-day tests, which will also include a simulated countdown, are part of NASA’s preparations to return people to the Moon.
There will be no humans on the moon for the “wet dress rehearsal,” which will be the last big test before this summer’s Artemis-1 mission. It will be followed by a landing on the moon, most likely in 2026.
“The countdown has begun,” NASA said at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2100 GMT) on its Artemis blog, adding that members of the launch control team had been given their “call to stations.”
The data collected during the test, which concluded Sunday afternoon, will be used to determine the launch date for Artemis 1. NASA had said that May may be the first window, but later now seems more plausible.
Because supercooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen will be loaded into SLS by ground equipment, it is called a “wet” dress rehearsal. This is because this is how they will load the SLS during an actual launch.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket – which is slated to be the most powerful in history when it is operational – was brought out to Launch Complex 39B at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center about two weeks ago.
Teams are now filling a water-filled sound suppression system that will be utilised to reduce acoustic energy generated during lift-off. They will continue to simulate every procedure that would occur during an actual launch.
They will load 700,000 gallons (2.6 million litres) of fuel into the SLS rocket on Sunday morning, after both the rocket and the Orion crew capsule are switched on.
They will not ignite the rocket’s previously tested RS-25 engines. When a launch is cancelled because of technical or meteorological problems, they will stop the countdown about 10 seconds before liftoff to look like one, which happens when a launch is cancelled because of that reason, too.
After draining the fuel, the SLS and Orion will be brought back to the vehicle assembly plant for final inspections.
During fueling operations on April 3, the public may be able to see the rocket spew vapour on its launch pad through NASA’s YouTube account. This will be on the Artemis mission blog.
Agency officials intend to conduct a news conference on Monday to provide further details.
NASA, on the other hand, will not allow the public to listen to live internal communications.
Tom Whitmeyer, a senior NASA official, said that this is because some important information, such as timing sequences, could help other countries build long-range missiles and break export control rules called the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
When he spoke, he said the agency might change its mind about what it does.
The move has created considerable consternation, since commercial launch firms frequently make their countdown sounds accessible, whereas the majority of intercontinental ballistic missiles are liquid-fueled.