Missions

At approximately 8:05 a.m. EDT, the launch director gave the “go” to start tanking operations.  The countdown will resume at 8:47 a.m. EDT at T-6 hours, 40 minutes.   Tanking begins with chilling down the liquid oxygen lines for the core stage. In sequential fashion, liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) will flow into the …

Teams have extended the current hold in the countdown beyond the planned 1.5 hours. Supply has been reestablished of gaseous nitrogen used to purge oxygen from the rocket prior to tanking operations to ensure a safe environment for propellant loading, but teams need additional time to switch supply from air back to the gaseous nitrogen …

The mission management team chair has given a “go” to proceed  with tanking the rocket for the Artemis I  wet dress rehearsal test, pending resolution of an issue with an outage at an off-site vendor of gaseous nitrogen used inside the rocket before propellant loading. While a similar issue with a supplier of gaseous nitrogen was …

The Space Launch System rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) and boosters were powered up overnight. Teams are in the process of clearing all non-essential personnel from the launch pad area in preparation for propellant loading operations.   At 6 a.m. EDT, or L-8 hours, 40 minutes, the launch team is expected to reach a …

Final preparations on the umbilicals to ensure connectivity between the mobile launcher, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft were completed this evening. The umbilicals provide power, communications, coolant, and fuel to different parts of the rocket. Additional accessories provide access and stabilize the rocket and spacecraft. During launch, each umbilical releases from its …

The mission management team for Artemis I met this morning to review the status of operations and continues to press ahead toward terminal countdown for the wet dress rehearsal test. Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 currently predict favorable weather conditions for tanking on April 14. There is currently a 5% …

Overnight, launch controllers powered up the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage. Communications links between Orion and the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston were verified, and preparations of the four RS-25 engines, which will not be lit during the wet dress rehearsal, continued. Over the next several …

At approximately 5 p.m. EDT today, the launch team arrived at their stations inside the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The countdown will begin 30 minutes later at 5:30 p.m. or L-45 hours, 10 minutes before the initial target T-0 for the wet dress rehearsal test for NASA’s Artemis I …

NASA is planning to proceed with a modified wet dress rehearsal, primarily focused on tanking the core stage, and minimal propellant operations on the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) with the ground systems at Kennedy. Due to the changes in loading procedures required for the modified test, wet dress rehearsal testing is slated to resume …

In continued preparations for the Artemis I wet dress rehearsal  test, with tanking targeted for Monday, teams encountered an issue maintaining helium purge pressure on the upper stage engine after change-out of a regulator on the mobile launcher. The RL10 engine on the upper stage uses helium to purge the engine and also to activate …