He SLS of the POT He’s back in top shape, apparently. The space agency has solved the problem that forced the launch of the mission to be postponed for the second time Artemis II. The 98-meter rocket should have taken off next Friday, March 6, and NASA was optimistic after successfully performing the ‘wet dress rehearsal’ (WDR, 48-hour general rehearsal of the entire process leading to takeoff) on February 21, something that had not been achieved at the beginning of that month, when it faced the first of the three planned launch windows.
The problem that forced us to pass up launch opportunities in February was a hydrogen leak. That did not happen in the last WDR, but a day later the ground crew verified that could not circulate helium to the upper stage of the rocket.
The SLS had to be moved again from the launch pad to the huge Vehicle Assembly Building (GVA) of Kennedy Space Centersince repair was only possible at this facility. Unlike connections to the core stage, which can be fixed on the ramp, umbilical lines leading to the upper stage must be fixed on the VAB.
On February 25 he was already back at the VAB, after which NASA technicians spent a week solving the problem. The inspections found their origin in a quick disconnect connector sealby which helium flows from the ground systems to the rocket, which was blocking the duct.
‘The team removed the quick disconnect connector, reassembled the system and began validating the upper stage repairs by passing a reduced flow rate of helium through the mechanism to ensure the issue had been resolved. Engineers are evaluating what allowed the seal to dislodge to prevent the problem from recurring.‘, NASA explained in an update this Tuesday.
The forecast is that the SLS and the ship Orion remain on the VAB until the end of this month, with the third release window beginning on April 1. Within the VAB, technicians will complete several additional tasks to ‘refresh’ the rocket for the next six scheduled launch dates. These are, after day 1, from 3 to 6 and 30.
The work will include activating a new set of flight termination system batteries for the rocket’s safety kill system, which would be used to blow up the SLS if it deviates from its trajectory during launch. Workers will also replace the flight batteries of the core stage, the upper stage and the solid fuel accelerators, and will recharge those of the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system, NASA indicates. At the bottom of the rocket, a seal on the core stage’s liquid oxygen feed line will be replaced.
Artemis II is the first manned mission of the Artemis program, with which NASA wants take humans back to the Moon and, later, to Mars. Artemis I took place in late 2022 and also experienced several failed launch attempts, managing to take off to the fourth.
The successive delays accumulated by the Artemis program led NASA to announce its restructuring and the objective of achieving an annual flight rate. Artemis III has been brought forward to 2027 and will focus on testing Orion’s ability to dock in low Earth orbit with a lunar landing module manufactured by SpaceX or by Blue Origin. The return of man to the lunar surface, initially planned for this mission in 2028, will take place that same year, but with Artemis IV.