NASA begins testing of the SLS rocket it designed for the Moon mission

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket developed for the Artemis 1 mission and Orion Spacecraft, as a result of more than 11 hours of work in the past days, Kennedy Space Center. was delivered to the launch pad. The testing process of Artemis 1, NASA’s mission to return to the Moon after many years, begins this weekend. There will be no launch in the tests, but the things to be done until the launch will be rehearsed.

Artemis The mission consists of three phases: Artemis 1 is an uncrewed round trip mission, while Artemis 2 is a crewed mission. Within the scope of the second mission, the spacecraft will not land on the Moon, it will only pass close to it and return. The final stage, Artemis 3, will bring the crew to the lunar surface.

Artemis 1 mission rehearsals will take place between April 1 and 3

NASA’s Artemis mission launch director, Charlie Blackwell Thompson, said at a press conference about the rehearsal that Artemis 1 mission rehearsals will take place between April 1 and April 3. announced that it will happen. Unexpectedly, NASA will not be providing live commentary or live audio of the countdown loop for rehearsal. Once the launch crew arrives at their stations, flight controllers will activate both the SLS and Orion. On Sunday morning, April 3, the team will decide whether the rocket is ready to be refueled. If all goes well, SLS’ tanks will begin to be filled with cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel. You can follow these test stages of the rocket on NASA’s Twitter account or YouTube channel.

NASA also referred to restrictions on publishing information about how rockets covered by the ITAR or the International Arms Trade Regulations work. Implemented by the US State Department, ITAR is used to control the export of certain technologies that can be used to make weapons. This means that if a technology is on what is known as the US Munitions List, that technology cannot be exported to a foreign country, or approval is required to do so.

Rockets are on the US Munitions List because many of the technologies used in rocket making are also used to create intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear bombs. Regarding the SLS, NASA says it’s worried about releasing valuable information about the countdown sequence, as enemies can use this information to build their own weapons.