NASA is conducting one of many final main checks of its new House Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft earlier than its first uncrewed mission to the moon, tentatively scheduled for later this 12 months. Often known as the moist costume rehearsal, the take a look at includes rolling the rocket out to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy House Middle in Florida and filling it with gas and performing a countdown, however not truly launching it.
The take a look at runs over the weekend, lasting for 2 days because the workforce performs the identical preparation sequence that will be used for an actual launch. With the rocket on the pad, the groups will energy on varied programs of each the rocket and the Orion spacecraft it carries, earlier than loading the rocket with over 700,000 gallons of super-cold liquid gas — therefore the title “moist” costume. As soon as the rocket is crammed with gas, the workforce will carry out a countdown to launch, test whether or not the countdown clock will be recycled if crucial, after which drain the gas out of the tanks. The take a look at includes coordinating personnel throughout the Launch Management Middle at Kennedy, the Mission Management Middle at NASA’s Johnson House Middle in Houston, the House Drive Jap Vary, and the SLS Engineering Assist Middle on the Marshall House Flight Middle in Huntsville, Alabama.
“At roughly 5 p.m. EDT, or L-45 hours, 40 minutes earlier than the preliminary focused take a look at T-0, the launch workforce arrived at their stations contained in the Launch Management Middle at NASA’s Kennedy House Middle in Florida,” NASA wrote in an update. “The countdown is now underway for the moist costume rehearsal take a look at for NASA’s Artemis I mission.”
This take a look at is uncommon in that no press is allowed to attend in individual, which isn’t typical for such checks. Additionally, whereas there’s a livestream of the rocket on the pad obtainable from the Kennedy House Middle newsroom, this feed is video-only and doesn’t embody any audio or commentary. The dearth of unbiased press entry to such a serious take a look at has raised questions from the area neighborhood, however NASA says this choice is because of nationwide safety issues, based on SpaceFlightNow.
The take a look at will proceed over at present, Saturday, April 2, and thru tomorrow, Sunday, April 3. You possibly can see the complete schedule of occasions on the Artemis blog.
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