The Artemis I mega moon rocket will soon have its final pre-flight test. According to NASA officials, the final prelaunch test of its next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft will be on June 20.
The very important test, known as "wet dress rehearsal" will happen on a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will simulate every stage of launch and will involve filling the boosters with fuel. They will perform a mock countdown but the rocket will not actually leave the launchpad.
The upcoming wet dress rehearsal is significant following a failed attempt in April. A number of technical issues surfaced during the initial rehearsal and it had to be fixed.
Pre-flight Test Will Determine Artemis I Launch to the Moon
The result of the pre-flight test is particularly crucial because it will determine "when the uncrewed Artemis I will launch on a mission that goes beyond the moon and returns to Earth," according to CNN.
This mission will be the beginning of NASA's Artemis program. The program will attempt to return humans to the moon. Moreover, it is also expected to land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface by 2025.
In April, there were three previous attempts of the wet dress rehearsal that were unsuccessful. NASA's investigation concluded that the rocket could be fully loaded with propellant. This might be due to various leaks. But according to NASA, this have been corrected since then.
The 322-foot-tall or 98-meter-tall Artemis I rocket stack was rolled by the NASA team back to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center on June 6. The Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft are also included.
NASA chief Bill Nelson released a strong statement that until his team is absolutely confident of SLS' readiness for flight, they won't be sending it skyward.
"We are not going to fly until it's safe. You can just nail that down. That's on all spacecraft. That's why we've had delays that we've had," Nelson stated, as cited by the Digital Trends.
If no problem will arise in next week's rehearsal, NASA will be clear to launch Artemis I on its first test mission. This might possibly happen as early as August.
If Artemis I mission will be successful, NASA can then proceed to the crewed Artemis II flight. Here, Orion will use the same route around the moon.
The success of Artemis II will pave way for the highly anticipated Artemis III mission, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface by 2025.
Read Also: NASA's Artemis I Update: Second Attempt to Fuel Moon Rocket Unsuccessful
What Will Happen in the Wet Dress Rehearsal
The next attempt at the wet dress rehearsal will begin on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The Artemis team will start loading propellant into the rocket's core and upper stage on June 20.
In the afternoon, a two-hour test window will begin. The Artemis team will target the first countdown at 2:40 p.m. ET.
The Artemis team will first start the countdown to 33 seconds before the launch. Afterwards, they will stop the cycle and the clock will be reset. Then the countdown will be resumed again. It will "run until about 10 seconds before a launch would occur," according to CNN.
Many objective on the list to prepare the rocket for launch were already completed in the previous wet dress rehearsal attempts according to Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems Program.
The Artemis team is presently checking for several possible launch windows. This will be in order to send Artemis I on its journey to the moon in late summer.
After the Artemis rocket successfully completed its wet dress rehearsal, "it will roll back into the space center's Vehicle Assembly Building to wait for launch day," said CNN.
Related Article: NASA Delays 'Wet Dress Rehearsal' for Artemis 1 Moon Rocket Over Safety Concerns
