Teams concluded today’s wet dress rehearsal test at approximately 5:10 p.m. EDT after observing a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak on the tail service mast umbilical, which is located at the base of the mobile launcher and connects to the rocket’s core stage. The leak was discovered during liquid hydrogen loading operations and prevented the team …
While loading liquid hydrogen (LH2) on the rocket’s core stage earlier this afternoon, engineers detected a leak on the tail service mast , which is located at the base of the mobile launcher and connects to the core stage. Though engineers stopped loading LH2 and liquid oxygen (LOX) on the core stage, the launch director …
Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) Axiom-1: Public Affairs Office (PAO), Payload, and Commercial Activities: Multiple NASA-sponsored and ESA-sponsored PAO events have been performed, including eight Ice Cube Media Set events, three Ham radio events, and three PAO events, including a duet in space between Mike LA and the neoclassical pianist BLKBOK. The Ax-1 crew completed activities …
NASA and SpaceX are preparing for a Commercial Crew swap taking place this month at the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts are staying busy as two cosmonauts gear up for a pair of spacewalks outside the orbiting lab’s Russian segment. Two Commercial Crew missions are getting ready to trade places …
Following the completion of slow fill for liquid hydrogen (LH2), teams encountered an issue when they started fast fill operations for LH2. After fast fill on LH2 began, a surge in pressure automatically stopped the flow of liquid hydrogen. Teams are working to troubleshoot this issue and the rocket is in a safe configuration. In …
After troubleshooting an issue with the temperature of liquid oxygen during early stages of propellant loading into the rocket’s core stage, launch controllers have resumed operations. Teams performed chill down operations again before liquid oxygen began flowing into the tank and adjusted pump speeds as necessary during flow to help ensure temperatures remain below limits. …
Liquid oxygen loading into the core stage was automatically halted near the beginning of slow fill operations when temperature readings on the propellant showed it was warmer than intended. The rocket is in a safe configuration while teams troubleshoot and determine a path forward. Engineers believe they understand the issue and are working a …
The launch control team has begun chill down operations and resumed the countdown clock ahead of flowing super cold liquid oxygen (LOX) into the core stage tank. The new T-0 time for today’s test is 3:57 p.m. EDT for the first of the two terminal count runs for the wet dress rehearsal. The process …
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 …
