NASA plans to haul its huge Space Launch System moon rocket back to the launch pad June 5-6 for a fourth attempt to load it with 730,000 gallons of supercold propellants in a dress-rehearsal countdown.
to clear the way for a maiden test flight later this summer, officials said Friday.
NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket atop launch pad 39B earlier this spring. The rocket was hauled back to its processing facility to troubleshoot and fix a variety of issues that have blocked attempts to complete a dress-rehearsal countdown and fueling test, but the agency says it will be ready for another try around June 17. / Credit: NASA
"We have built in two weather days that could move that date around slightly," Lanham said."Again, it is Florida in June. So thunderstorms are expected." And before doing that, engineers need to carry out a successful WDR to verify the rocket and the complex ground systems needed prepare it for launch and load it with propellant will work as required. If so, the rocket could be ready for launch on its initial test flight sometime in August.on April 3, but trouble with ground equipment triggered a one-day delay. Then the team ran into a gaseous nitrogen shortage, liquid oxygen temperature issues and trouble with an upper stage helium valve.
As it turned out, the upper stage helium valve failed to work because a bit of rubber debris had lodged in the mechanism. The valve was replaced and troubleshooters worked to eliminate any additional sources of foreign object debris. Testing the fittings at room temperature adds confidence, but engineers will not know for sure if the leak has been stopped until cryogenic liquid hydrogen, at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, begins flowing through the fitting at the launch pad.
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