Trevor Mahelman
The US Space Agency has spent a significant amount of time designing, developing, building and testing the Space Launch System rocket. When NASA created the rocket program in 2010, US lawmakers said the boosted SLS should be ready for launch in 2016.
Of course, this launch target and many others have come and gone. But now, after more than a decade and more than $20 billion in funding, NASA and its group of contractors are nearly ready to announce that the 111-meter rocket is ready for its first launch.
On June 20, NASA successfully The number of missiles reaches the T-29 seconds During testing of the tank before launch. Although it did not reach the T-9 seconds as its original target, agency engineers collected enough data to satisfy the information needed to proceed with the launch.
At two press conferences last week, NASA officials declined to specify a launch target for the mission. However, in an interview Tuesday with Ars, NASA’s chief exploration officer, Jim Fry, said the agency is working on a launch window from August 23 to September 6.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Fry said. It would be foolish not to focus on that now. We made great progress last week.”
Next is the return of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center for final preparations for launch, including operation of the flight-stop system. A team of technicians and engineers will also replace the seal on the quick disconnect where hydrogen leakage was observed while loading the fuel.
Free said the downturn could begin as early as Thursday, and workers have outlined their plans to tackle the car during a relatively quick turnaround. “This group knows exactly what to do when we get back,” he said. “I don’t think we’re expanding ourselves to get there. We might push ourselves a little bit, but we wouldn’t do stupid things.” In this timeline, the SLS could return to the launch pad in just a couple of months.
This Artemis I mission won’t carry people on board, but it will serve as a test flight for the massive rocket, the largest NASA has built since the Saturn V rocket that the agency used to fly in the Apollo program. A second mission, Artemis II, will transport a crew of four astronauts around the moon. It probably won’t happen before 2025. The first human landing on the moon, Artemis III, is likely to happen a year or two after the successful completion of Artemis 2.
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