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NASA’s Space Launch System rocket will return to its assembly building next week for repairs, pushing the earliest possible opening date for its uncrewed test flight to the Moon to later in the summer, officials said Monday. Since April 1, the space agency has been attempting in vain a critical “wet dress rehearsal” test, so-called because it includes loading liquid propellant. The procedure is intended to simulate launch operations, including a final countdown to within ten seconds of blast off, but without actually firing the engines.
However, NASA teams have encountered a number of technical difficulties.
These included a flammable liquid hydrogen leak, and a faulty valve that prevented upper stage fueling and running low on nitrogen, which is used to purge oxygen from the spacecraft prior to tanking operations for safety reasons.
The rocket, which stands 322 feet (98 meters) tall with the Orion crew capsule attached to the top, will begin its slow journey back from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B to the vehicle manufacturing building on April 26 for repair.
When asked about the earliest possible launch date for the Artemis-1 flight test to the Moon and back, senior government official Tom Whitmeyer said, “I think the early June window would be challenging.”
A test flight had previously been planned by NASA.
There will be additional launch windows in July and August. These are determined by factors such as the equilibrium locations of the Earth and Moon, as well as how long the rocket will have to fly during an eclipse because it requires the Sun to power and regulates itself thermally.
A delay in Artemis-1 will have repercussions on subsequent missions, including Artemis-2, the first uncrewed test flight around the Moon, and Artemis-3, which will see the very first woman and first person of color land on the lunar south pole.
NASA intends to establish a permanent presence on the Moon and use it as a testing ground for technologies required for a Mars mission planned for the 2030s.
