NASA’s Artemis I lunar rocket prepares for pre-test

The indentation was less than 0.01 inch (0.3 mm), but It allows compressed gas to escape, which can be very dangerous due to the flammability of hydrogen. The team believes the dent is related to the leak, but test results can confirm that.

Sarafin said the large hydrogen leak on September 3 was between two and three times the acceptable limit.

Test ‘nice’ actions

The cryogenic demonstration is intended to test seals and use updated “gentle and gentler” loading procedures for the ultra-cooled propellant, which the rocket will test on launch day.

said Jeremy Parsons, deputy director of NASA’s Earth Exploration Systems Program at Kennedy Space Center.

The gentler, more gentle loading procedure is to reduce the pressure rises and thermal rises seen during previous launch attempts. To achieve this, the team will slowly raise the pressure on the liquid hydrogen storage tank. It’s estimated that the slower procedure adds no more than 30 minutes to the process, Parsons said.

“It’s going to be a very slow, steady incline,” Parsons said. “So (we) are just trying to slowly introduce some of those thermal differences and reduce the thermal shocks and pressure.

Liquid oxygen is relatively dense, about the density of water, and is pumped into the rocket. Meanwhile, hydrogen is very light, so it is stirred up using pressure rather than being pumped, said Tom Whitmer, associate deputy director of NASA’s Joint Exploration Systems Development.

Whitmer said the new loadings will use a slower compression rate with gradual temperature changes.

The call to stations for testing, when all teams associated with the mission arrive at their consoles and report their readiness, begins today at 3 p.m. ET. The mission team expects to receive a “launch” to begin fueling the rocket at approximately 7 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. If all goes well, Parsons said, the team expects the test to be completed by 3 p.m. ET that day.

The test will also include engine bleed, which cools the engines upon launch. The mission team removed the first attempt to launch Artemis I on August 29 due to a faulty sensor issue that occurred during this hemorrhage.

So far, the outlook looks promising for the test. The Artemis team receives daily briefings on Hurricane Fiona in case it has any bearing on whether the missile assembly should be returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building, a process that can take three days.

Getting ready to go

If cryo testing goes well, the next launch could be attempted on Tuesday, September 27, with a 70-minute window opening at 11:37 a.m. ET. Mission managers will meet to discuss test results on September 25 to assess a possible launch date.

If Artemis I launches on that day, it will go on a 39-day mission and return to Earth on November 5. It is possible that there will be another backup release date of October 2. While NASA recommends these launch dates, the team ultimately depends on a decision from the US Space Force, which will need to issue a launch waiver.

The US Space Force, a military arm, still oversees all missile launches from the US East Coast, including NASA’s Florida launch site, and this area is known as the Eastern Range.

Range officials are tasked with making sure there is no danger to people or property on any launch attempt.

The Artemis team continues to have “productive and collaborative” discussions with the Eastern Range, and NASA is sharing additional detailed information requested by the Space Force for review.

Whitmer said the team takes things step by step and wants to pass the test before making other decisions.

“We’ll go when we’re ready,” Sarafin said. “But in terms of the flight reward of this flight, we have said from the beginning that this is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions, a purposeful stress test of the rocket.”