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NASA to Discuss Status of Artemis I Test, Launch

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen through the windows of Firing Room One in the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen through the windows of Firing Room One in the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center atop a mobile launcher as it rolls out of High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building for the first time to Launch Complex 39B, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the rocket and spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal at Launch Complex 39B to verify systems and practice countdown procedures for the first launch. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 5, to discuss the status of the next wet dress rehearsal test of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website.

The agency plans to conduct another attempt of the wet dress rehearsal in early June to demonstrate the ability to load propellant into the tanks and conduct a full launch countdown ahead of the Artemis I launch this summer.

Teleconference participants include:

  • Jim Free, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
  • Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, NASA Exploration Ground Systems Program, NASA Kennedy

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the event to: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.  

NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived back at Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building April 26 after a 10-hour journey from launch pad 39B. Since their arrival, teams have worked to replace a faulty upper stage check valve and repair a small leak within the tail service mast umbilical ground plate housing. The teams also have been performing additional checkouts while the spaceport’s supplier of gaseous nitrogen makes upgrades to their pipeline configuration to support Artemis I activities.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone to send astronauts to Mars.

For updates, follow along on NASA’s Artemis blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis

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Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.a.hambleton@nasa.gov
Tiffany Fairley
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
tiffany.l.fairley@nasa.gov