The results will determine when the unpaid Artemis I will be launched on a mission that goes beyond the moon and returns to Earth. This mission will launch NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to bring humans back to the Moon and land the first woman and the first colored person on the lunar surface by 2025. The wet dress rehearsal simulates each launch step without the rocket actually leaving the launch site. This includes powering the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft, loading supercool propellant into the rocket tanks, performing a full launch simulation countdown, resetting the countdown clock, and draining the drains. The test will begin with a call to stations at 5 p.m. ET Friday and will end on Sunday afternoon with the final countdown. The call to the stations, which is a check-in with every team involved in a launch, “is a big milestone because it’s time to call our teams, notifying them that the wet costume rehearsal rehearsal is officially underway. ” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis’s launch director for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program, told a news conference Tuesday. A live stream of NASA Artemis I on the launch pad without audio commentary started at noon on Friday ET and will be available all weekend, but do not expect to see all the drama of a real launch.
The test run includes a countdown
The team is aiming for a two-hour test window that opens at 2:40 p.m. ET Sunday, ruling out any delays due to bad weather or other factors. The countdown will begin Sunday afternoon after a weather briefing, ensuring all teams are “going” for a virtual launch. Once the rocket is loaded with more than 700,000 gallons (3.2 million liters) of propellant – the “wet” wedding dress rehearsal – the team will take all the steps to launch. “Some ventilation may be observed during the tank,” according to the agency, but this is about visible action at the launch site. “Liquid hydrogen is negative at 450 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 268 degrees Celsius), liquid oxygen is negative 273 (negative 169 degrees Celsius), so they are very cold substances,” said Tom Whitmeyer, deputy systems development associate. NASA headquarters. , during the press conference. “I used to take part in this transfer program, and it’s like watching a ballet. You have pressure, intensity and temperature. And you really work all those parameters to have a successful tank business.” Team members will count down to one minute and 30 seconds before the launch and stop to ensure they can hold the start for three minutes, continue and let the clock drop to 33 seconds and then stop the countdown. They will then reset the clock to 10 minutes before the launch, reverse the countdown and finish at 9.3 seconds, just before the ignition and launch occur. This simulates what is called a launch clean-up or cancellation of a launch attempt if weather conditions or technical problems would prevent a safe take-off. At the end of the test, the team will drain the rocket propellant, just as they would during a actual cleanup.
Some steps will be sorted
Artemis I was launched at the launch site on March 18. After this rehearsal, it will be transported back to the Vehicle Assembly Building until it is ready for launch. Test progress updates will be posted on the Artemis blog and a NASA Twitter account. However, no audio or comment will be provided and there are no personal multimedia facts surrounding the test. In addition, some data will remain confidential for security reasons. The milestones will be posted on NASA’s website, but details such as the specific time, temperatures and time required to complete some work “are considered important information from other countries,” Whitmeyer said. “And so we have to be very careful when we share data, especially for the first time, you know.” And this for some reason. “We are really hypersensitive to cryogenic launchers that are large in size and capacity, which is very much in line with the ballistic capabilities that other countries are very interested in,” said Whitmeyer. “And what they’re looking for in particular is the timing of the timing sequence, the temperatures, anything that would help them or other people get used to helping other people do similar things.” The complex interaction of loading propellants and the sequence of events to avoid strain on the vehicle are the types of specific data that would be of particular interest, he said. Whitmeyer stressed that the organization is conservative and shows great care, “especially in the environment in which we are today.”
A summer launch is expected
The space agency is expected to announce the test results on Monday. Depending on the result of the wet dress rehearsal, unmanned shipping could begin in June or July. During the flight, the unmanned Orion spacecraft will launch to the top of the SLS rocket to reach the moon and travel thousands of miles beyond it – farther than any spacecraft intended to carry humans. This mission is expected to last a few weeks and will be completed with Orion being launched into the Pacific Ocean. Artemis I will be the last test field for Orion before the spacecraft transports astronauts to the Moon, 1,000 times farther from Earth than the International Space Station. After the Artemis I unmanned flight, Artemis II will be a full-moon flight of the Moon and Artemis III will return the astronauts to the lunar surface. The timetable for the next launch of the mission depends on the results of the Artemis I mission.
