Artemis 1: NASA prepares for fuelling test of SLS rocket on Sept 21 ahead of Moon mission

NASA is preparing for the crucial fuel test of its Space Launch System (SLS) which will make its debut flight under the Artemis 1 mission targeted for September 27. Called cryogenic demonstration, the tests would begin at 4:45 pm IST to confirm the repair of the hydrogen leak which occurred near the core stage of the SLS rocket during the launch attempt on September 3. After conducting additional evaluations, "the demonstration will conclude when the objectives for the test have been met", NASA said in an update. 

The SLS rocket, which is a heavy-lift launch vehicle, has been developed on a few upgrades of the Saturn V rocket that was used during the Apollo Program five decades ago. Standing 322 feet tall, the SLS rocket is capable of generating 8.8 million pounds of thrust during launch, which is 15% greater than Saturn V's capacity and this makes it the world's most powerful rocket to date. However, the rocket is yet to reach orbit and few attempts have been scrubbed owing to technical anomalies along with the issue of fuel leakage. 

The recent incident of fuel leakage occurred on September 3 when NASA engineers were loading liquid hydrogen into the SLS rocket's core stage tank. The leakage was near the supply line used to load propellant into SLS but the issue prevented the mission teams from fuelling the rocket. According to NASA, the rocket has two tanks, one for liquid hydrogen which can store 1,96,000 gallons of propellant whereas the second tank is for liquid hydrogen with a capacity for 5,38,606 gallons of fuel. 

So far, NASA has been carrying out repair work on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center and whether the rocket needs to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) will depend on the evaluations made during the cryogenic demonstration. 

Launch windows for Artemis 1

In a recent announcement, NASA said that Artemis 1 would be targeted for launch during a 70-minute window starting 9:07 pm IST (11:37 a.m. EDT). The agency has also decided on a backup date on October 3 during a 109-minute window starting 12:22 am IST (2:52 p.m EDT on Oct 2). If launched on September 27, Artemis 1 will end on November 5 otherwise it would end on November 11 if launched on October 3.