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The Artemis 1 rocket for NASA’s mission to the moon passed a fuel test on Runway 39B, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida on September 21, 2022. Photo / NASA
The Artemis 1 team carried out this test to see if the two leaked rocket seals had been repaired, if they were working properly. The gasket replacement was done around the quick disconnect section on 9 September.
The repairs came after Artemis 1, which was carrying an unmanned Orion capsule into lunar orbit using a giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, failed to launch due to a leak on September 3. NASA has reported a leak of liquid hydrogen propellant in a “rapid break” in the central SLS stage.
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This is an interface that connects the rocket to the fuel lines of its mobile launch tower. This test allowed the engineers to calibrate the settings used to condition the engine during terminal calculations and to validate the program before launch day.
“All the goals we set for ourselves were able to achieve today,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis’ launch director, with the Exploration Ground Systems Program.
Testing it does not mean that everything is perfect. For example, when loading liquid hydrogen, a leak appears again in the quick disconnect. But the engineering team managed to fix it, heated the quick disconnect, allowed reinstallation, which reduced the leak rate to an acceptable level.
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Artemis 1 personnel also noticed a distinct loss of hydrogen during the “pre-pressure test”, also part of the testing activity. “This second leak was smaller than the others and the Artemis 1 team was able to control it,” NASA officials said.
NASA is currently planning September 27, 2022 as the launch target for Artemis 1, with a possible backup date of October 2, 2022. Some of the other things Artemis 1 will need to do to get the mission started in the next two weeks as well is time.
Hopefully with Artemis 1, the Artemis 2 mission will launch astronauts around the moon in 2024, and Artemis 3 will land near the moon’s south pole a year or two later.
Ultimately, the Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on and around the moon. The program is underway to bring astronauts to Mars in the late 2030s or early 2040s.
(Spider web)
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