NASA’s Artemis I Is Brought In for Repairs — Will We See It Launching Anytime Soon?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has returned the Artemis 1 to its space rocket garage for repairs.

According to a recent report from Space.com, Artemis 1's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was returned to NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to be repaired following its incomplete "wet dress rehearsal" attempts earlier this month.

The SLS was rolled off Pad 39B at 7:54 p.m. EDT on April 25.

Artemis 1's SLS Repairs

According to Space.com's report, the SLS rocket is brought to the VAB to make some minor repairs and adjustments, such as replacing a faulty upper stage check valve, which launchpad workers found to be defective during the second wet dress rehearsal.

NASA will also replace the rocket's tail service mast umbilical ground plate housing, which was found leaking during the third wet dress rehearsal, per NASA's Blog post.

A wet dress rehearsal is NASA's way of simulating every stage of a rocket launch without the rocket leaving the launch pad, per Florida Today. What made it "wet" was the act of filling the spacecraft's propellant tanks, resetting the countdown clock, and draining the tanks again.

Artemis 1's SLS rocket was unable to get through the first stage due to the previously mentioned items. It also went through three different wet dress rehearsals before NASA decided to bring it back to the VAB for repairs before the fourth wet dress rehearsal could be performed.

Aside from the upper stage check valve and tail service mast umbilical grand plate housing, the SLS rocket will also undergo additional checkouts before returning to the launchpad for its next wet dress rehearsal.

Will The Artemis I Launch Soon?

Due to the number of repairs, NASA would be doing to the rocket, Artemis I will likely not be ready for its scheduled launch window of June 29 to July 12.

Although NASA told Space.com that it is targetting a date sometime in August to launch the rocket, it is still unsure when Artemis I will get the go-ahead for launch. NASA officials won't set an official target date until the wet dress rehearsal is completed and they have had a chance to analyze the data.

The rocket, as well as the Orion spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to the Moon and other destinations in deep space, arrived at the VAB at about 6 a.m. EDT on April 26.

What Is The Artemis Program?

Artemis 1, formerly known as Exploration Mission-1, will be the first integrated test of NASA's deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, the SLS rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center, per NASA.

NASA aims to send people on the surface and orbit of the moon using these systems as well as in other destinations not visited by humanity before, such as deep space.

The Artemis Program consists of three missions, with the first being unmanned and the next two to be crewed by astronauts, per the Government of Canada.

The third Artemis mission will see astronauts landing on the surface of the moon no earlier than 2025.