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Updated June 21st, 2022 at 16:16 IST

NASA concludes crucial test of SLS rocket for Artemis I mission; next stop is Moon

NASA has finally concluded the pre-launch tests of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket which will be bound for the moon in a couple of months.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
NASA
Image: Twitter/@NASAKennedy | Image:self
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NASA has finally concluded the pre-launch tests of its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket which will be bound for the moon in a couple of months. Called the “wet dress rehearsals”, the tests included conducting a full launch countdown and fuelling the fully integrated rocket (SLS + Orion capsule) with 7,00,000 gallons of propellant. Having started in the early hours of June 19, the tests met their completion two days later at 5:07 am (IST) today.

Mission team endures minor hiccup

NASA revealed that not everything went according to plan as the mission team again spotted a hydrogen leakage during the SLS rocket's fuelling. The rocket was filled with propellant which is composed of liquid oxygen and hydrogen, thus the name "wet dress rehearsals". In a mission update, the agency revealed that the leak was encountered in one of the two tail service mast umbilicals, which connect the Mobile Launcher (launch tower) to the rocket's core stage. 

"The team attempted to fix the leak by warming the quick disconnect and then chilling it back down to realign a seal, but their efforts did not fix the issue", NASA's statement read. Owing to the leakage, the mission team halted the countdown at T-29 seconds instead of the planned T-9 seconds. The tests were conducted by the mission team to them to get as far into the countdown as possible. "It's a great day for our team," Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director said during the webcast organised following the tests. "Really proud of them working through the loading operations and working through terminal count", he added as per Space.com.

Henceforth, the mission team will analyse the results from the test after hauling the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and prepare the rocket and the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I launch. The Artemis I would be an uncrewed mission and will mark the first of a series of Moon missions under the Artemis Program. 

The SLS rocket and its launch

NASA recently released a full list of launch windows for the launch of the Artemis missions, which begins on July 26 and extends till December 23 of the current year. As for the rocket, it weighs 5.75 million-pound, measures 322-foot-tall and will be the most powerful rocket ever built during its launch. According to NASA, it has a core stage equipped with four RS-25 engines which can accelerate the rocket to a speed of over 39,000 kilometres per hour. Besides, the SLS has six types of configuration for crew and cargo and the rocket's thrust capacity (the power generated) during liftoff ranges from 8.8 million pounds to 9.5 million pounds.

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Published June 21st, 2022 at 15:44 IST

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