NASA has once again postponed the final test of its next-generation Space Launch System. The agency conducted a “wet rehearsal” of the upcoming Artemis 1 Moon mission for most of last weekend. The test was designed to test the mission’s countdown procedure, and it mostly went according to plan until NASA encountered a problem with SLS’ mobile launcher platform.
The problem prevented the agency from safely loading the rocket with liquid fuel, and NASA delayed critical testing to fix the problem. Initially, the test was scheduled to restart on April 9, but now the trial has been postponed until this week. It was also announced that the test would be modified after engineers noticed a problem with a helium control valve designed to prevent helium from escaping from the SLS. In the renewed test, NASA will primarily focus on filling the rocket’s core stage with “minimum propellant operations” of its upper stage.
NASA said, “Due to changes to the loading procedures required for renewed testing, wet proof testing is scheduled to continue with a call to stations on Tuesday, April 12, and tanking on Thursday, April 14.”
NASA will be able to resume the Artemis 1 mission after the test is complete. The mission will send an unmanned Orion capsule on a flight around the Moon to study how the journey will affect human astronauts. The agency will not set a date for the assignment until we have completed the wet rehearsal. Artemis 1 could launch as early as June if it doesn’t run into any setbacks this week.
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