A third attempt at a crucial pre-launch test for NASA’s Artemis I mission to the moon will begin on Saturday after the two previous attempts were cancelled, the agency said in a press release.
The wet test, which simulates all stages of the launch without the rocket leaving the launch pad, will begin at 6:00 pm (Brasilia time) on Saturday and should go until 3:40 pm on Monday (11), according to the statement. .
The test is an important step in the first phase of NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to return humans to the Moon and land the first woman and first black person on the lunar surface by 2025.
The wet suit trial was originally scheduled to be completed last Sunday, but was suspended before the thruster was loaded. This was due to problems with two fans used to provide pressure to the mobile launcher — the mobile turret that the rocket sits on before taking off.
The next day, NASA said it was able to resolve the malfunctioning fans needed to pressurize enclosed areas inside the launcher and keep out hazardous gases.
The rehearsal was retried on Monday but was halted before completion due to an issue with a panel on the mobile launcher that controls the main stage vent valve, said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis’ launch director for the rehearsal. NASA’s Earth Exploration Systems Program.
The valve relieves pressure from the rocket’s center stage while the propellant tank is underway, according to NASA.
The wet test results will determine when Artemis I will launch on a mission beyond the moon and back to Earth.
During the flight, the unmanned Orion spacecraft will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket to reach the Moon and travel thousands of kilometers beyond it – farther than any spacecraft intended to transport humans has ever traveled. This mission is expected to last a few weeks and end with Orion crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis I will be the final proving ground for Orion before the spacecraft takes astronauts to the Moon, a thousand times farther from Earth than where the International Space Station (ISS) is located.
After the unmanned flight of Artemis I, Artemis II will be a manned flyby of the Moon, and Artemis III will return astronauts to the lunar surface. The timeline for subsequent mission launches depends on the results of the Artemis I mission.
Source: CNN Brasil
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