Today, NASA begins another dress rehearsal for the first launch of its new moon rocket. An earlier attempt to wet dress rehearsal to bring it to a successful conclusion, was anything but as expected.
The SLS rocket that will take Americans back to the moon in a few years’ time is a concern for NASA. After years of delays, the Space Launch System was ready in early April for rehearsal of the rocket’s launch and refueling – to make sure it goes well on the actual launch for the Artemis I mission. But up to three times the dress rehearsal out in failure.
There were problems with a faltering helium valve in the top stage, tank hose connections on the launch tower started leaking hydrogen, and a company that supplies nitrogen to purify parts of the rocket failed to supply enough gas.
Refueling is the most exciting
Those matters have now been resolved, assures space expert Ronald Klompe, affiliated with the National Space Museum in the Aviodome. The nitrogen company has expanded capacity, the hydrogen leaks have been closed and the cause of the unwilling helium valve was also found: there was a piece of rubber clamp that should not have been there at all. “It remains a headache file, but the hope is now that the headache will not get worse,” says Klompe.
Monday is the most exciting moment, when the rocket is refueled. If the test is now successful, the SLS will be rolled 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 launch at the end of August/beginning of September. That first flight in the Artemis program will bring 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 manufactured in the Netherlands:
–
