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Today, NASA begins another dress rehearsal for the first launch of its new moon rocket. An earlier attempt to wet dress rehearsal to carry it out, was anything but as planned.
The SLS rocket that will bring Americans back to the Moon in a few years worries NASA. After years of delays, the Space Launch System was ready in early April for launch rehearsal and rocket refueling – to make sure it goes well on the actual launch of the Artemis I mission. But up to three times the general repetition in check.
There were issues with a failing helium valve in the upper stage, tank hose fittings on the launch tower started leaking hydrogen and a company that supplies nitrogen to purify parts of the rocket did not supply enough gas.
Refueling is the most exciting
Those questions have now been answered, says space expert Ronald Klompe, affiliated with the National Space Museum in the Aviodome. The nitrogen company increased its capacity, the hydrogen leaks were closed, and the cause of the unintended helium valve was also found: there was a piece of rubber clip that shouldn’t have been there all the time. everything. “It’s still a headache, but the hope now is that the headache doesn’t get worse,” Klompe says.
Monday is the most exciting time, when the rocket is refueled. If the test is successful now, the SLS will be moved back to the huge VAB building, which once also served as a hangar for the Apollo moon rockets and the space shuttle. This is where the system gets its last service.
On Wednesday, NASA announced that it was aiming for a late August/early September launch. This first flight of the Artemis program will put the new Orion capsule into orbit around the Moon.
Parts for the Artemis project are also being built in Europe. For example, the Orion capsule has solar panels made in the Netherlands:
