NASA delays dress rehearsal of megarocket Artemis 1

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AEROSPACE & DEFENCE

According to NASA, issues with a vent valve stopped the team from proceeding with the dress rehearsal of their new megarocket Artemis 1.

NASA had already made two attempts at a wet dress rehearsal on the 3rd and 4th of April, but both endeavours had to be abandoned due to technical issues.

In an optimistic press release, NASA said that through the unsuccessful rehearsals “engineers accomplished several test objectives” including configuring Launch Pad 39B, clearing personnel and equipment from the launch pad and powering up Orion and the SLS rocket systems.

The dress rehearsal was always predicted to run over two days, but the latest delay was not planned for. 

The Artemis dress rehearsal of 3 April was halted because NASA lost the ability to pressurize the mobile launcher. The second attempt, a day later, was called off after the space agency discovered problems with a vent valve. The operation had already been delayed throughout the day as teams had to fix a temperature limit issue for the liquid oxygen.

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Artemis 1 is a new megarocket, designed to travel 280,000 miles from Earth. It is the most powerful rocket in the world and will stay in space longer than any spaceship for astronauts has done before, without docking to a space station.

The launch of the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is the first in a series of new ambitious space exploration missions for NASA. It will be uncrewed, and according to NASA will, “provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.”

When Artemis 1 leaves the Earth’s atmosphere it will head to the Moon where it will stay 40,000 miles (70,000 km) from the Moon for six days. At present, there is no set date for the official launch of Artemis 1.

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Now, NASA is recalibrating, ready for a third dress rehearsal. NASA conducts wet dress rehearsals in order to test all the major systems before going ahead with the launch. In particular, the agency tests propellant loading and the rocket's responses as 700,000 gallons of cryogenics are stocked onto it.

The wet test connected the Launch Control Center at Kennedy in Florida with staff in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the SLS Engineering Support Center in Alabama and the Space Force Eastern Range.

The Artemis I will eventually launch at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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