The technicians planned to power the Artemis 1 galaxy, called the Space Launch System (SLS), with 700,000 gallons of supercool propulsion on Sunday (April 3) at Pad 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The feed test was the final stage of a three-day “wet dress rehearsal” designed to test the launch countdown process for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to the Moon later this year. However, a problem with the Artemis 1 rocket launcher, a platform that includes the skeleton tower and other vital equipment, prevented the test, NASA officials said. A system that uses fans to push the mobile launcher and keep out harmful gases has obviously failed. “Fans are needed to provide positive pressure to enclosed areas inside the mobile launcher and keep hazardous gases away,” NASA wrote in a statement on Sunday. “Technicians are not able to safely load the propellants into the basic stage of the rocket and into the temporary stage of cryogenic propulsion without this capability.” With Sunday’s cleanup effort, NASA’s next opportunity to test refueling functions could be as early as Monday (April 4), but NASA will have to weigh fuel availability – the SLS rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as a propellant – as well as launching range schedules. NASA’s Artemis 1 SLS rocket is located on top of Pad 39B, adjacent to Launch Pad 39A, where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is to launch four private astronauts to the International Space Station on Wednesday (April 6th) on the Axis mission. 1 for Axiom Space. The launch of this Ax-1 mission was delayed by an April 3 goal to pave the way for NASA’s Artemis 1 power test. Agency officials said the Ax-1 mission should be launched by April 7 to avoid further delays in a next SpaceX astronaut launch for NASA, a mission called Crew-4 currently scheduled for April 20, and will transport four more astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. “The teams will discuss the scope and availability of the merchandise as part of a future plan,” NASA officials said in a statement on the Artemis 1 power test. A press conference is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) to discuss the agency’s plan. Artemis 1 is NASA’s first mission to the moon of the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by about 2025. The mission will use NASA’s first Space Launch System rocket to launch an unpaid Orion spacecraft around the moon and return it to Earth. If all goes well with the flight, NASA aims to launch an Orion spacecraft crew around the Moon in 2023, followed by the Artemis 3 crew landing mission sometime later. The “wet dress rehearsal” of Artemis 1 is a crucial step in verifying that the SLS rocket is ready for launch. The amplifier is NASA’s most powerful rocket ever and the body’s first moon rocket since the Saturn V rockets launched Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and 1970s. Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
