According to agency officials, NASA on Saturday (Dec December) advanced the main phase of its new space launch system, launching the next “green run” test of its next pay generation Magrocket.
For this “wet dress” rehearsal exercise, engineers at NASA’s Stanislaus Space Center in Mississippi loaded for the first time the main phase of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with propellant, a process that began Monday (December 7) and was expected to last about 48 hours. NASA officials wrote in a blog post.
Prior to this wet dress rehearsal, NASA had already placed the 212-foot tall (65 m) core stage through six green run tests. These tests will jointly test whether the SLS core stage, built by Boeing, is ready to bring the crew safely into space as part of its Artemis program. This behemoth spacecraft is designed to bring humans back to the lunar surface by 2024, with the potential effects of human travel going deep into space.
Related: NASA tests its SLS booster for future lunar missions (video)
Phase two has passed its critical test at the B-2 test stand at NASA’s Stannis Space Center near St. Louis, as it was installed there on Jan. 2. In this current chapter of the eight-part test series, engineers are loading more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters), or supercold propellants made of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. This makes it the first time that the SLS core stage will be completely filled with propellants, so engineers were closely monitoring for signs of leaks or other problems when filling the tank.
“To test the propellant loading processes, the engineers successfully loaded a small amount of liquid hydrogen into the main phase without any issues. After that, they stopped the propellant loading to review the data and adjust the procedure before loading the additional propellant,” NASA officials said Monday. 7) wrote. ) In a blog post.
“Operations are ongoing, and the team will improve procedures and resume wet dress rehearsal testing in the coming days. Performed well on the main stage, and no issues with the stage, B-2 test stand, or other features. Stannis.”
Update on Green Run Test: #NASASLS has been conducted as part of the seventh test in the Core Stage series. Engineers are reviewing data and refining processes before resuming wet dress rehearsal testing. More on NASA’s #Artemis blog: https://t.co/PTaxAadPXO pic.twitter.com/a2D8no6IWXDecember 8, 2020
The main phase is designed to deliver more than 2 million pounds of thrust, and NASA will use this special core stage to help launch Artemis 1, the first test flight of NASA’s Artemis program that will send an unveiled Orion capsule on a trip around the moon. . Artemis 1 is currently slated to launch in late 2021.
“In preparation for the Artemis launch, engineers will also place the stage on the pad before the lift-before f … This provides an opportunity to observe how the countdown would have stopped during the hot fire test or how the stage would have reacted. Future Artemis launch, NASA officials said in an earlier blog post.
Similar to the scrubbed launch protocol, all propellants will be removed from the core tank after this test, NASA officials wrote.
If the data confirms that all have been well during this wet dress rehearsal, the team will move on with plans for the final event of the series, the Hot Fire Test.
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