Launch Pad Preparations Progress Ahead of Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal 

Shortly after NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived to Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17, engineers began preparations for an upcoming wet dress rehearsal, a fueling test of the rocket set to occur before launch.  

Technicians hooked up purge lines meant to keep cavities of the rocket and spacecraft in the right conditions, enabled communications with the Launch Control Center, and performed swing tests of the crew access arm — the bridge that allows the crew and other personnel to access Orion. The emergency egress system, a slide-wire and basket systems that allows for a quick exit in the case of an emergency, also was connected, allowing teams to practice releasing the baskets. Orion and elements of the rocket, including the core stage, interim cryogenic propulsion stage, and boosters, have been powered on. 

Teams are in the midst of multi-day testing of radio frequency communications between the rocket and the Eastern Range.  

Technicians are scheduled to begin servicing the SLS twin solid rocket boosters with hydrazine over the weekend. They also will load several final items into Orion, including tablets for the crew, medical kits, and several scientific payloads such as the AVATAR investigation. 

During the upcoming wet dress rehearsal, teams demonstrate the ability to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants into the rocket, conduct a launch countdown, and practice safely removing propellant from the rocket without astronauts onsite. 

If needed, engineers can rollback SLS and Orion to the Vehicle Assembly Building for additional work. While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, Feb. 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date.