NASA DELAYS the final ‘wet dress rehearsal’ of its 332ft SLS ‘megarocket’

NASA has delayed the final ‘wet dress rehearsal’ of its massive 332ft SLS megarocket until March, to give engineers more time to complete ‘closeout activities’.

This includes a long list of tests and checks, on both the rocket, its systems, the launch pad and the Orion capsule strapped to the top.

This is the latest in a long line of delays to hit the $23 billion Space Launch System (SLS) project, which has been in development for more than a decade. 

One major consequence of this delay is that it has pushed back the launch of Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight of the Orion capsule around the moon.

NASA says it is now reviewing launch opportunities for April or May for Artemis-1, meaning the first flight around the moon could be delayed by three months, as it was originally scheduled to launch by the end of this month.

SLS and Orion are at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waiting for the wet dress rehearsal no earlier than March 20.

NASA has delayed the final ‘wet dress rehearsal’ of its massive 332ft SLS megarocket until March, to give engineers more time to complete ‘closeout activities’ 

NASA says it is now reviewing launch opportunities for April or May for Artemis-1 – that includes Orion (pictured), meaning the first flight around the moon could be delayed by three months, as it was originally scheduled to launch by the end of this month

The wet dress rehearsal delay will allow engineers to work through a long list of checks, which the agency described as being like a ‘punch list’.

Comparing it to working with a contractor on a home kitchen re-development, they said the list was for minor issues and paperwork – to sign off the spacecraft.

The U.S. space agency officials stressed there were no major problems, that things were going to plan, the delay was just to give more time for careful, slow testing. 

‘Engineers are conducting final integrated tests of Orion and SLS along with the ground equipment, prior to rolling the rocket and spacecraft to the launch pad for a final test, known as the wet dress rehearsal,’ a spokespersons said.

SLS and Orion are at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waiting for the wet dress rehearsal no earlier than March 20

This includes a long list of tests and checks, on both the rocket, its systems, the launch pad and the Orion capsule strapped to the top 

‘This final test will run the rocket and launch team through operations to load propellant into the fuel tanks and conduct a full launch countdown. 

‘Following a successful rehearsal, NASA will roll the stack back into the [Vehicle Assembly Building] for final checks and set a target date for launch.’

‘There’s no one specific thing, we just have a lot of things that we need to close out, it’s a big vehicle, it’s a lot of instrumentation that needs to be finished and prepared for the final closeout activities,’ said Tom Whitmeyer, NASA deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development.

The Artemis I mission will see the Orion spacecraft, the SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy combine to launch the Orion 280,000 miles past Earth around the moon over the course of a three-week mission.

This spacecraft, primarily built by Lockheed Martin, will stay in space ‘longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before,’ NASA has said previously.  

It is now scheduled to launch no earlier than March 20, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  

If Artemis I is a success, then in 2024 NASA will send Artemis II on a trip around the moon, this time with a human crew on board.

The Artemis II mission plans to send four astronauts in the first crewed Orion capsule into a lunar flyby for a maximum of 21 days.

Both missions are tests flights to demonstrate the technology and abilities of Orion, SLS and the Artemis mission before NASA puts human boots back on the moon. 

The Artemis mission will be the first to land humans on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 in 1972. With the first woman and first person of color expected to step foot on the surface at some point in 2025.

Before that can happen, NASA engineers say they need to ensure every aspect of the SLS rocket, the lunch platform and Orion is safe and ready to go. 

Whitmeyer, said: ‘We are focused on getting out for the wet dress rehearsal, with a high level of logistical complexity involved in completing out the work.’

He said all flight hardware was at the Kennedy Space Center, with a number of integration tests carried out over the past few months, ready for the dress rehearsal.

This will be a full rehearsal, giving engineers a chance to see the spacecraft in action, without it actually leaving the ground – testing it under the same conditions as it expects to experience during a live launch. 

The Artemis mission will be the first to land humans on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 in 1972. With the first woman and first person of color expected to step foot on the surface at some point in 2025

This is the latest in a long line of delays to hit the $23 billion Space Launch System (SLS) project, which has been in development for more than a decade 

‘When we roll out for wet dress and for flight, it will be the first time we’ll have the full launcher and mobile launcher at the pad, with pad services,’ said Mike Bolger, NASA Exploration Ground Systems program manager.

‘There is some uncertainties around how long that roll-out will take, and we have other uncertainties such as wind and other environmental conditions.’ 

Last week, NASA engineers confirmed they had fixed a glitch in the ‘brain’ of the SLS megarocket, replacing components that manage all four engine controllers. 

Its first launch recently slipped from the end of last year to no earlier than March this year due to a problem with the onboard engine controller, which acts as the brain for each of the powerful RS-25 engines that propel the rocket into orbit.

That has now been further delayed, due to the need for a wet dress rehearsal and further tests and checks – including paperwork – before it can launch.

At an estimated $1 billion per launch, the space agency wants to ensure any issues or errors are picked up before the single-use rocket leaves the Earth.   

It is housed in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and with the Orion module on top, it stands a whopping 322ft.

When it launches the rocket will produce 8.8 million lbs of thrust, which is more than the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the Moon in the 60s and 70s.  

The Artemis missions have faced their own issues, including with the development of spacesuits and the human lander systems that will take crew to the surface.

However, many of the delays have been as a result of issues with the SLS itself and legal issues, caused by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin unsuccessfully suing NASA over a decision to award the Human lander system contract solely to Blue Origin.

In November, NASA extended its target date for sending astronauts back to the moon from 2024 to 2025 at the earliest. 

NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission

Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon in Greek mythology. 

NASA has chosen her to personify its path back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 –  including the first woman and the next man.

Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. 

Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  

Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the moon and beyond. 

During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.

It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a three-week mission. 

Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and Mars. This graphic explains the various stages of the mission

Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before. 

With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps of human exploration into deep space where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems near the moon needed for lunar surface missions and exploration to other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars. 

The will take crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans aboard. 

Together, Orion, SLS and the ground systems at Kennedy will be able to meet the most challenging crew and cargo mission needs in deep space.

Eventually NASA seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.

The space agency hopes this colony will uncover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advancements and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.