CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida –
NASA is replacing leaking seals on its moon rocket in hopes of launching it on its first test flight later this month.
Managers said Thursday they will conduct another test after the repairs to make sure all hydrogen fuel leaks are plugged. If that test goes well, and if the Space Force extends a flight safety waiver, NASA could take another stab at launching the 322-foot rocket in late September. Otherwise, the rocket will return to the hangar for additional work, delaying liftoff until at least October.
A series of hydrogen fuel leaks and other problems halted back-to-back launch attempts last week.
The Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA, contains a crew capsule with three test dummies. The space agency wants to send the capsule into lunar orbit in a test, before putting astronauts on the next flight in 2024. This mission around the moon would pave the way for the first human landing on the moon in 50 years , currently scheduled. for 2025.
“We have to do the tank test and then we have to look at what the realism is and the schedule” to make a launch attempt as early as Sept. 23, said Jim Free, who is in charge of exploration systems development at NASA.
To launch at the end of September, NASA needs permission from the Space Force at Cape Canaveral, which oversees the rocket’s self-destruct system. Batteries are needed to activate the system if the rocket veers into populated areas. These batteries need to be retested periodically, and this can only be done in the hangar. The military would have to extend the certification of these batteries another two weeks or more to avoid moving the rocket back to the hangar.
But every time the rocket moves between the hangar and the launch pad adds “routine wear and tear, and I don’t want to do that” unless it’s necessary, said chief engineer John Blevins. There have already been three trips to the pad for practice countdowns this year, and most recently the failed pitching attempts on Aug. 29 and Saturday.
Engineers hope that replacing a pair of seals in the hydrogen fuel lines at the bottom of the rocket will take care of the persistent leaks.
As an added precaution, the launch team plans “a gentler, gentler approach to the tank” during the final phase of the countdown, sometimes slowing the fuel flow to reduce stress on the seals, according to Mike Bolger, program director.
“We are optimistic that we can eliminate this problem,” he told reporters.
Years behind schedule and billions over budget, NASA’s new lunar exploration program is being named Artemis after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology. Twelve astronauts walked on the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s during NASA’s Apollo program.
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