Artemis 2 rocket’s moist costume rehearsal: Watch the livestream

NASA will gas its moon rocket once more this week, giving launch groups one other costume rehearsal earlier than the Artemis II take a look at flight.

The U.S. area company is focusing on Thursday, Feb. 19, for the second “wet dress rehearsal,” a apply countdown that makes use of actual gas however stops in need of liftoff. Engineers changed a filter in floor assist gear over the weekend and reconnected the road.

This redo take a look at comes greater than two weeks after a moist costume rehearsal hampered by hydrogen gas leaks — the identical points that plagued Artemis I’s launch in 2022. Hydrogen is notoriously prone to leaks as a result of its small, light-weight molecules can seep out of minuscule cracks and crevices. 

The rehearsal is crucial to launch Artemis II, the primary crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years. By working a practical countdown and fueling sequence, engineers can verify that the rocket, floor techniques, and launch group all work collectively earlier than committing to an precise launch try. 

Mission leaders have recognized March 6 because the earliest attainable launch alternative if the take a look at goes properly. Artemis II will ship Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey across the moon with out touchdown, testing the Orion spaceship’s life-support techniques. It’s a key step earlier than NASA feels able to put boots on the lunar floor in Artemis III. 

“This is the first time this particular machine has borne witness to cryogens,” stated Amit Kshatriya, NASA affiliate administrator, referring to the ultra-cold liquid propellants. “How (the rocket) breathes and how it vents and how it wants to leak is something we have to characterize.” 

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On Feb. 12, NASA carried out an unannounced partial fueling take a look at. That train offered some information for groups to pinpoint a bother spot within the gear suspected of limiting the move of hydrogen into the Space Launch System rocket.

During the take a look at on Thursday, NASA will load 700,000 gallons of propellant into the rocket and stroll by the identical steps they might comply with on launch day. They will conduct a full countdown, apply holding and restarting the clock, after which drain the tanks to rehearse a scrub, or a canceled launch situation.

Although the Artemis II astronauts won’t take part, a separate group will head to the launchpad to apply Orion closeout work, together with shutting the hatches. These are the identical duties carried out shortly earlier than an actual launch and assist guarantee crews can transfer effectively beneath tight timelines.

Controllers may also rehearse the ultimate stretch of the countdown, often called the terminal depend, which covers the final 10 minutes earlier than liftoff. They plan to run that phase twice, pausing at 1 minute and 30 seconds, then once more close to the half-minute mark, earlier than recycling the clock again to 10 minutes and repeating the sequence. This strategy lets groups apply how they might reply to delays brought on by climate or technical points.

How to observe the moist costume rehearsal

Launch controllers reported to their consoles at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:40 p.m. ET Tuesday to start an almost 50-hour lead-up to a mock launch. The simulated launch time is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, with a four-hour window to finish the take a look at.

NASA will present a livestream video feed with extra digital camera views throughout the take a look at, in addition to share real-time updates on the Artemis blog, for the general public to comply with alongside. 

“We try to test like we fly,” stated John Honeycutt, head of the Artemis II mission administration group. “But this interface is a very complex interface.”

Mission leaders will not set a proper launch date till engineers have reviewed the rehearsal information.