NASA held a press conference on Thursday to discuss the last preparations for the uncrewed test flight of the Artemis 1 spacecraft, which is scheduled to take place this spring. A "wet dress rehearsal" of the Orion spacecraft, which is expected for mid-March, will be the primary emphasis for the time being. Humans will land on the Moon for the first time this century, according to the Artemis program's long-term goal.
The next test will consist of moving the Orion spacecraft and the massive Space Launch System rocket out to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the mission will begin. Following installation, the rocket stage will be fueled with fuel and the NASA crew will conduct a test countdown that will halt just short of the big T-minus zero. For years, NASA has been testing and retesting these elements, including splashdown tests of the Orion spacecraft in preparation for its return to Earth. Following a catastrophe late last year, NASA stated earlier this week that engine tests for the Space Launch System (SLS) had gone well.
A news conference was held to announce that the crawler-transporter will transport "an over 17-million-pound stack to launch complex 39B." Mike Bolger, exploration ground system program manager at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, said that the stack would weigh over 17 million pounds. This will be a spectacular sight, especially when the top of the umbilical tower will be more than 400 feet above ground level when it is riding on top of the crawler-transporter.
The transport is scheduled to
commence at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST on March 17, according to Bolger.
Normally, these operations (known as "rollout") would begin at
midnight, but the NASA team wanted as many people as possible to be able to
witness the monumental undertaking in its entirety in real time.
Before the journey, NASA
personnel will dismantle 20 massive platforms—ten on either side of the rocket,
each the size of a basketball court—that will be used to support the rocket.
Engineers can gain access to various elements of the spacecraft through the use
of the platforms.
With its true crawling motion, the crawler-transporter moves along the ground at a speed ranging from 0.1 miles per hour to 0.82 miles per hour. In order to travel fewer than 5 miles to the launchpad, the transporter will need to travel more than 11 hours.
The wet dress rehearsal will take place as soon as SLS and Orion arrive at the base camp. The rocket will be loaded with propellant—liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen—and the team will begin the countdown to launch, though they will scrub the rocket before taking off from the pad. After that, the team will detank the vehicle and leave it on the pad for a while.
The exact date of Artemis 1,
the first test flight, is still up in the air. Tom Whitmeyer, NASA's deputy
associate administrator for exploration systems development, stated,
"We're continuing to examine the May window, but we're also acknowledging
that there's a lot of work ahead of us and that we need to go through that
testing."
However, while it is a little disappointing not to be aware of the big day, NASA's apprehension is well-justified. In the field of spaceflight, deadlines have a nasty reputation of being pushed back; the first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) was most recently scheduled for February 12, 2022. For the time being, we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for the wet dress rehearsal scheduled for next month.
The Artemis program consists
of a succession of missions that will culminate in a crewed lunar landing.
Several historic firsts, like as the first woman and person of color on the
Moon, are planned for the missions, which also have a bevy of scientific
objectives. However, before the first crewed mission, Artemis 2, can be
launched, the uncrewed Artemis 1 will have to travel past the Moon and back.
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