The Artemis II rocket is positioned on a launch platform at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.(Image credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty Images)
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NASA is preparing to fill the Artemis II rocket once again for a “wet dress rehearsal” this Thursday (Feb. 19) as it gets ready for its celebrated journey towards the moon.
The fueling exercise will be NASA’s second endeavor at a wet dress rehearsal for fueling its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, succeeding the hydrogen leaks that marked the initial attempt earlier during the month.
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NASA traced the issue to a couple of seals enclosing the fueling channels, which have subsequently been rectified. The tribulations, nevertheless, persisted trailing the premature ending of a Feb. 12 “confidence test” resulting from a different issue that lessened the fuel discharge to the rocket. NASA revealed in a report that its engineers have substituted a filter suspected of hampering the hydrogen stream.
“Considering the problems noted during the buildup to Artemis I, and the protracted interval linking missions, we should not be astonished by the obstacles encountered upon commencing the Artemis II campaign,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman conveyed through the social platform X this Saturday (Feb. 14). “That does not vindicate the circumstances, but we comprehend it. I am impressed with the NASA team and our contractors operating thoroughly through the campaign.”
A historic mission
Artemis II is slated to convey a quartet of astronauts on a 10-day voyage encircling the moon. This marks the inaugural occasion that NASA is repatriating humans toward the moon after more than 50 years, and the initial occasion that a female and a Black man are to be among a lunar unit. In the event of a triumphant journey, NASA will have evaluated systems and collected information antecedent to the Artemis III mission, which aspires to land astronauts on the moon during 2028.
NASA intends to establish a sustained presence on the moon by means of the Artemis Program, with the ultimate aim of employing the lunar surface as a launching point for Mars. Nonetheless, space exploration constitutes a demanding and precarious enterprise, which has been consistently represented during the Artemis Program.
Hydrogen fuelling continues to be a foremost concern. The lightest element has been NASA’s preferred fuel since the Apollo program, whilst furthermore notorious for leakage — permeating solid metals via diffusing across their atomic lattices. Further complicating issues, hydrogen possesses a boiling temperature of minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 Celsius, or 20 kelvins), consequently, NASA is required to sustain it extremely chilled, under temperatures competent to freeze seals.
In 2022, NASA’s key Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was brought back to the Vehicle Assembly Building twice due to hydrogen escape and further technical issues that emerged during rehearsals for Artemis I, an unpiloted mission encompassing the moon that eventually launched during November 2022. NASA is presently encountering analogous issues with Artemis II.
NASA had previously accounted for supplementary issues during the initial rehearsal, encompassing audio communication malfunctions, complications involving a substituted valve situated on the crew capsule and a further hydrogen escape, attributed to frigid weather and resolved by engineers moderating the temperature of particular components.
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To successfully complete the wet dress rehearsal this Thursday, NASA must substantiate its aptitude in safely fueling excess of 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of its hydrogen-reliant cryogenic propellant and finishing a simulated launch. This encompasses sealing hatches situated on the Orion spacecraft, the vehicle in which the Artemis II unit will journey to the moon.
Upon NASA accomplishing a successful wet dress rehearsal, the space agency can proceed toward a flight-readiness assessment before committing to a launch timeframe for Artemis II. The launch windows for March comprise March 6 to 9 and March 11. Should Artemis II fail to launch across one of these days, its launch will be delayed to April, with the mission slated to launch no later than April 30.
TOPICSNASASpace Launch System
Patrick PesterSocial Links NavigationTrending News Writer
Patrick Pester functions as the trending news reporter at Live Science. His writings have been featured on other scientific platforms, encompassing BBC Science Focus and Scientific American. Patrick pursued retraining as a journalist following dedicating his early profession functioning inside zoological facilities and wildlife conservation. He garnered the Master’s Excellence Scholarship enabling him to study at Cardiff University where he completed a master’s degree in global journalism. In addition, he has a second master’s degree in biodiversity, evolution and conservation in action acquired from Middlesex University London. Whenever he is not writing news stories, Patrick delves into the trade in human relics.
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