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Here’s all the things to know concerning the moist costume rehearsal, the result of which shall be vital as NASA appears to commit to a different Artemis 2 launch date.
NASA’s second multi-day check to simulate a launch day is underway in Florida in a vital demonstration of whether or not the company’s large moon rocket is ready to ship astronauts on a lunar mission.
The check, often known as a moist costume rehearsal, features a mock countdown and the fueling and draining of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The launch rehearsal is the second such preflight check NASA is conducting in February after the primary one ended with the invention of a problem with the SLS that brought on the Artemis 2 mission to slide not less than a month.
While Artemis 2 may nonetheless get off the bottom as early as the primary week of March, that launch may fall even additional into 2026 if NASA’s repairs to the SLS are discovered to be inadequate.
The upcoming mission to ship three Americans and one Canadian on a 10-day journey across the moon is the primary U.S. human lunar enterprise in additional than half a century. While no moon touchdown is in retailer for Artemis 2, the mission would set the stage for astronauts to achieve the lunar floor throughout the subsequent Artemis 3.
Here’s everything to know concerning the moist costume rehearsal, the result of which shall be vital as NASA appears to commit to a different Artemis 2 launch date.
Is Artemis 2 delayed? NASA targets March launch date
Originally slated for liftoff in February, NASA officers have delayed the Artemis 2 moon launch from the Kennedy Space Center close to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Under NASA’s present timeline, the earliest the mission may get off the bottom is March 6.
The mission slipped by not less than a month after NASA’s first elaborate launch day rehearsal ended with the invention of a hydrogen leak inside the Space Launch System rocket’s 212-foot core stage.
NASA has not but introduced an official launch date. The company, although, mentioned in its most recent blog post that it discovered an extra day within the first week of March that may be appropriate for a launch alternative.
While NASA didn’t specify the brand new date, the beforehand introduced Artemis 2 launch window in March included March 6-9 and March 11.
NASA to conduct 2nd rocket fueling check often known as moist costume rehearsal
Committing to a brand new launch date will not occur till NASA conducts one other moist costume rehearsal. After that, mission engineers should full an evaluation often known as a flight readiness evaluation through which they assess a wide range of components, together with the standing of the spacecraft.
The subsequent moist costume rehearsal, a check designed to imitate a launch, is Thursday, Feb. 19.
The check comes after groups changed a filter in floor assist gear following a Feb. 12 check to partially gas the rocket. Ground groups can even consider whether or not changed seals on the rocket will stop additional liquid hydrogen leaks.
Launch countdown check underway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida
NASA floor groups and engineers are getting ready for the following fueling check of the huge 322-foot Space Launch System rocket, which has been vertical on the launch pad since mid-January.
In truth, preparations are already underway on the Kennedy Space Center after the countdown kicked off round 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, Feb. 17. Ground groups have powered up the rocket’s core stage, which shall be loaded with and later drained of greater than 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, and started charging the flight batteries for the Orion capsule hitching a experience atop the rocket.
As of seven a.m. ET, Feb. 19, groups had begun configuring the rocket with gas nitrogen in an essential step to mitigate hearth hazards earlier than fueling begins.
A simulated launch window is scheduled to open at 8:30 p.m. ET Feb. 19, with the check lasting for as much as 4 hours, based on NASA.
How to observe NASA protection of SLS rocket being fueled, drained
NASA, which is sustaining a 24/7 livestream of the SLS rocket vertical on the launch pad, mentioned it is going to provide a separate feed throughout the fueling check on its YouTube channel. Updates can even be made in actual time on the Artemis blog throughout the check.
Who shall be on the Artemis 2 mission? Astronauts depart quarantine
The crew of Artemis 2 contains NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, in addition to the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.
Delaying the mission till March means the astronauts have exited quarantine on the Johnson Space Center in Houston. They will re-enter quarantine to keep away from publicity to any diseases about two weeks forward of the following launch alternative earlier than flying from Texas to the Kennedy Space Center.
Artemis 2 not touchdown on the moon. What to learn about mission
NASA’s Artemis program is the company’s formidable marketing campaign to return Americans to the floor of the moon for the primary time for the reason that Apollo period got here to an finish in 1972.
The Artemis 2 astronauts will not be touchdown, however will as an alternative circle the moon on a 10-day journey to check methods and {hardware} for future expeditions to the floor. The Orion capsule the crew will pilot – constructed by Lockheed Martin – is because of journey about 4,700 miles past the far aspect of the moon, taking its passengers the farthest people have ever ventured in area earlier than returning to Earth.
The mission would come greater than three years after Artemis 1 launched Nov. 16, 2022, from the Kennedy Space Center, sending the Orion capsule on a moon-orbiting mission with out a crew within the first check of the car.
A moon touchdown would happen throughout Artemis 3, which President Donald Trump has signaled he needs to see occur earlier than the top of his second time period.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]
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