The test, as NASA calls it, simulates each stage of a launch without the rocket actually ejecting from the launch pad.
This includes operating the 322-foot (98 m) Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, loading supercooled fuel into the rocket’s tanks, running a countdown to simulate a full launch, resetting the countdown clock, and running out of missile tanks. .
The test was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, but was suspended before the propellant was loaded. This was due to problems with two propellers used to pressurize the mobile launcher – the movable turret on which the missile would sit before takeoff.
On Monday, NASA said it had resolved a malfunction in overnight propellers, which are needed to compress enclosed areas inside a rocket launcher and keep out dangerous gases.
“Due to a problem with the vent valve, the launch manager canceled today’s tests. The team is preparing to cancel LOX and will start discussing how fast to flip the car over on the next try. Lots of learning and progress today.”
Sunday’s delay came after the rocket survived four lightning strikes during a severe storm at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. However, NASA said the fan issue that forced the postponement on Sunday had nothing to do with the storm.
The results of training in wet clothes will determine when Artemis I will embark on a mission beyond the Moon and back to Earth. The unmanned mission is expected to begin in June or July.
This mission will launch NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to return humans to the moon and land the first women and men on the moon by 2025.
During the flight, the unmanned Orion spacecraft will blast atop an SLS rocket to reach the moon and travel thousands of kilometers beyond – farther than any spacecraft intended to transport humans has traveled. This mission should last a few weeks and will end with Orion spray in the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis I will be Orion’s last test place before the spacecraft takes astronauts to the Moon, 1,000 times more than the International Space Station site.
After the uncrewed Artemis I flight, Artemis II will be a lunar flight and Artemis III will return astronauts to the lunar surface. The launch schedule for subsequent missions depends on the results of the Artemis I mission.
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