NASA Completes Artemis I Refueling Test Written 23 September 2022
After scrubbing the Aug. 29 and Sept. 3 launch attempts, NASA rolls the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional analysis. | Credit: John Tylko for Aerosapce America–©
Spaceflight Now reports that engineers “filled up the Artemis 1 moon rocket with more than 750,000 gallons of super-cold propellants in a tanking test Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center after troubleshooting a persistent hydrogen leak.” Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said, “We’ll go take a look at the data. I don’t like to get ahead of the data, so I’d like the team to have an opportunity to go look at it, to see if there are changes we need to make to our loading procedure, our timelines, or if we’re good as is.” Hydrogen leaks “have been a persistent problem during the Artemis 1 launch campaign as NASA prepares for the first test flight of the SLS moon rocket, a 322-foot-tall (98-meter) vehicle that’s cost more than $20 billion to date and has taken a decade to develop.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Watch the Artemis I launch live on NASA TV
The next anticipated launch window will take place in late September 2022.