“We’re not ready to let go” of the June launch window, Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
On Monday, NASA made a second attempt at the so-called drill, which simulated each stage of the launch without the rocket actually emerging from the launch pad. The exercise is an important step in the first phase of NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to return humans to the moon and land the first woman and first person of color on the moon by 2025.
Charlie Blackwell Thompson, Artemis launch manager for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program, said tests were halted Monday before completion due to a problem with a panel on the mobile launcher that controls the main stage relief valve. The valve relieves pressure from the rocket’s main stage as it engages the propellant tank, according to NASA.
The team tried to solve the problem by trying the primary and secondary valves, but they couldn’t fix it.
Blackwell-Thompson said that due to time, officials decided to halt operations until the team could see the board.
“This was a test, and the purpose of the test was to fully understand our system in the launch day configuration,” he said. “Our team has achieved a lot.”
No word yet on his next attempt at wet practice But the money changers say they expect it “in no time”.
The test was originally scheduled to be completed on Sunday, but was discontinued before the propellant was loaded. This was due to a problem with the two propellers used to suppress the moving launcher – the movable turret on which the rocket would sit before liftoff.
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NASA said Monday that it was able to solve the damage to the propeller, which was needed to suppress the enclosed area inside the rocket launcher and keep out harmful gases.
The results of the wetsuit training will determine when Artemis I will embark on a mission beyond the Moon and return to Earth.
During flight, the unmanned Orion spacecraft will explode atop an SLS rocket to reach the moon and travel thousands of miles behind it – farther than any spacecraft intended to carry humans has ever traveled. The mission is expected to last several weeks and will end with Orion spraying over the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis I will be Orion’s final test site before the spacecraft takes astronauts to the Moon, 1,000 times more bound to Earth than the International Space Station site.
After the unmanned flight of Artemis I, Artemis II will become a lunar flight, and Artemis III will return astronauts to the lunar surface. The launch schedule for the next mission depends on the results of the Artemis I mission.
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CNN’s Katie Hunt and Ashley Strickland contributed to this report.
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