NASA will soon be putting Artemis 1's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket up for a trial run after being sent for repairs.
The space agency has tentatively scheduled a new "wet dress rehearsal" of Artemis 1's SLS rocket on June 19 following its return to NASA's vehicle assembly building (VAB) in late April, per a recent NASA blog post.
The upcoming wet dress rehearsal will be the SLS' fourth after three failed attempts to complete said rehearsal.
Artemis SLS Fourth Wet Dress Rehearsal Details
According to NASA's blog post, the SLS Rocket will return to Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B on June 6 for the next wet dress rehearsal tentatively scheduled for June 19.
The Administration mentioned that during the rocket's time in its VAB, the team responsible for its repairs completed several objectives. These objectives include assessing the liquid nitrogen system leak at the service mast umbilical, replacing the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) gaseous helium system check valve and support hardware, and adding hazardous gas detectors above the rocket's upper stage.
NASA claims these detectors allow additional visibility into any potential leaks during cryogenic operations.
The repairs made to the SLS were being wrapped up sometime on May 27, per a NASA briefing on the same day, according to Space News.
Since the rocket is being prepared for its fourth wet dress rehearsal, NSA has closed the hatches or the crew's access points for the crew module and launch abort system in preparation for the rollout. Additionally, Engineers installed rain gutters on the crew access area to help prevent moisture from entering the crew module while the spacecraft and rocket are at the launch pad.
Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems Program, mentioned that a "call to stations' for the SLS rollout is scheduled for the evening of June 5, with the actual rollout starting at around midnight of June 6, Eastern Time.
NASA hopes the SLS' fourth wet dress rehearsal will be successful. However, if the space agency needs another wet dress rehearsal, it will add "a little schedule" to support the additional trial, said Tom Whitmeyer.
Whitmeyer is the deputy associate administrator for common exploration systems development.
Additionally, both he and Lanham said they are confident that the team in NASA's VAB has fixed the SLS' problems during the rocket's time there.
"All the things we've seen so far have been very positive in terms of the actual performance of the hardware, Whitmeyer said.
When Will Artemis 1 Launch?
Should the SLS' fourth wet dress rehearsal be a success, Artemis 1's first unmanned mission could be green-lighted sometime in August. However, NASA mentioned that it is still unsure when the rocket will get the go-ahead for launch, per Space.com.
The space agency won't set an official date until the wet dress rehearsal is completed and it has had a chance to analyze the data collected from the trial.
