A few days after NASA signed two international memoranda of understanding related to the missions for the Artemis moon program, good news is being offered for testing the delayed rocket launch of the space launch system.
“Green Run” tests on the new Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which is scheduled for its debut launch in November 2021, go again after ground equipment problems earlier this month pushed the tests back, he announced. NASA Thursday (Dec. 17).
The rocket itself is fine, NASA said in a Dec. 11 media call, but temperature issues associated with ground equipment to power the tank blocked the seventh of eight “wet dress” rehearsals at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Related: Testing of the NASA SLS megarocket was blocked by temperature problems
. @ NASA_SLS Green Run tests are almost complete. After a partial refueling earlier this month, engineers @NASA and @BoeingSpace resumed the 7 out of 8 test in the Green Run series for the #Artemis I missile stage. Https://t.co/pjqaneDOOY pic.twitter.com / gtKXu9MR3VDecember 17, 2020
However, on Thursday (December 17th), contractor Boeing and NASA began resuming the test, a “wet rehearsal” involving the full loading of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks from the basic SLS stage this week.
“Upon completion of the wet clothing rehearsal, the team will spend a few days analyzing data to determine if NASA is ready to continue with the final green rolling test: the hot fire when all four engines ignite, simulating the countdown and launching the Artemis Mission 1 “The hot fire test date will be set once the wet rehearsal data analysis is complete,” NASA added on Thursday on its blog Artemis website.
The SLS tested right now is expected to launch an Orion spacecraft on an unmanned monthly voyage in late 2021, but testing must be done soon to complete final transportation to Florida and construction to meet the flight date. This mission, called Artemis 1, must be completed before the team-equipped Artemis 2 lunar orbit mission flies for the expected date of 2023, and NASA lands humans per month during Artemis 3 until the 2024 deadline.
“We’ve reached a point where we have very little margin left in the program for our commitment to our delivery date,” said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, about Artemis 1 Testing SLS during the December 11 teleconference.
Timely SLS flight is important not only for NASA, but also for its international partners. Earlier this week, both the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency announced that they had signed agreements with NASA regarding participation in the Artemis program. The CSA also announced that an astronaut – who has not yet been named – will fly on Artemis 2 in 2023, marking the first time anyone other than an American will leave Earth’s orbit.
The pace of Artemis missions depends not only on SLS testing, but also on funding and other technologies associated with the monthly program. The push of the month in 2024 was officially set by the Donald Trump administration in 2019, accelerating the chronology in 2028.
More recently – amid an unforeseen pandemic in 2019 that is now creating economic pressure around the world – NASA’s 2021 fiscal budget has not yet been finalized. The new presidential administration Joe Biden will take office in January, potentially adding his own ideas to NASA’s exploration plans. NASA must also test monthly equipment, such as space suits, before certifying them for flight.
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