On March 17, 2022, NASA the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the Orion space capsule overhead, slowly drove out of the aircraft assembly building and began to launch the 39B complex. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.
NASA is planning to launch the Artemis 1 mission within weeks, following a successful rehearsal for the launch of its latest lunar spacecraft earlier this week. The agency will send the Orion spacecraft to the Space Launch System (SLS) as soon as the end of August, which is the first step towards returning humans to the lunar surface in 2025. There will be no astronauts on board for this trip around the moon and back.
In a pre-rehearsal briefing on Friday (June 24, 2022), Catherine Hamilton of NASA's Communications Office summarized the next steps for Artemis 1:
NASA has reviewed the data from the exercise and the test activities have been completed. The exercise was the last major mission required before launch, and now specialized agencies are preparing to roll SLS and Orion back to the Vehicle Assembly Center next week to prepare the rocket and spacecraft for their flight tests.
Weather permitting, it will return to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday (July 1, 2022).
Listen to the entire Artemis One media update here:
SLS and launch crew ready
The launch exercise was overall a success, but the launch team did not get as close to T-0 as planned, ending the test with 29 seconds left on the countdown .
Tom Whitmire, associate administrator for NASA's Common Exploration Systems, said nearly all of the outstanding missions and related systems have been tested in previous tests. The
launch drill is the final step in the long process of learning how to prepare and launch SLS. At the NASA briefing, Whitmire described it this way:
This is a process of gradually accumulating knowledge. When you look at these activities, you also need to compare them to other activities we have done.
Like a stage crew preparing for opening night, every member of the SLS launch team must know what their job is and when. The drill will uncover any problems along the way. Whitmire also said:
We know it's impossible to actually start the engines or start the rocket, so we're rehearsing loading operations and tearing down operations and going through all of our sites to make sure everyone has the right information and is working together.
SLS team's troubleshooter overjoyed
In a post-test briefing, Whitmire described Phil Weber, senior technical integration manager for the Exploration Ground Systems Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, as the SLS team's troubleshooter. Weber said he was thrilled with the results of the exercise:
When I drove home after Monday's test, I was over the moon. It was a long day for many of us, but we persevered and got through it.
Weber said that in the remaining 29-plus seconds of countdown time, only 13 instructions were not tested, and most of them have been verified. Before the rocket takes off, there are two problems that need to be solved: the leakage of the hydrogen pipeline and the flow problem of the liquid oxygen pipeline. The veteran technician believes the LOX fix won't take too long:
We've got a good start on solving this problem, so I think it'll be relatively easy.
Controlling hydrogen leaks can be a little trickier. As we all know, hydrogen is the smallest molecule in the universe and is difficult to control.
6 to 8 weeks of launch preparation
The most important thing for the launch crew is that if the SLS is loaded with highly reactive fuel and the actual launch is cancelled, they need to know how to restore the rocket to a safe configuration. Weber says knowing how to put the beast-like SLS back to sleep is crucial:
When you gas it up, and you've got the decree wired, the safe and the arm into the arm position, then you're really gripping A tiger's tail lives.So if something nominal does happen, you need to make sure that you can actually make the vehicle safe and have it under your control.
only 3 out of the expected 72 instructions failed in SLS safe mode.
summary: The SLS launch drill was very successful, and the Artemis 1 lunar program will be completed by the end of August this year (2022).
BY: Dave Adalian
FY: Astronomical volunteer team
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