NASA said the issues it faces are not major design problems but rather smaller, technical problems. In a press conference this Friday, April 15, he said that he can try the test again only this Thursday, April 21. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft is on top of a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Monday, April 4, 2022. NASA / Joel Kowsky The latest version of the test, in which the rocket is deployed on the launch pad and filled with liquid propellant, was modified from previous attempts to focus on using ground systems to fill the rocket’s tanks, rather than trying to fill the rocket. upper stage. However, even with this modified test, there were still problems, after a fan problem in the first test and a stuck valve in the second test. In the most recent test, the team detected a liquid hydrogen leak and had to cancel the test. Liquid hydrogen is one of the two fuels used, along with liquid oxygen. “Engineers encountered a leak of liquid hydrogen in the service umbilical cord tissue that prevented the team from completing the test,” NASA wrote. “Before the end of the test, the teams were able to collect additional data by reducing the lines used to load the propellant into the upper tier. The rocket remains in safe configuration as the teams evaluate the next steps. “ The liquid oxygen tank in the central stage was almost half full when the test was stopped, the service wrote in an update, and the liquid hydrogen tank filled to about 5% of its capacity. Seeing the leak, the team then had to drain the propellant behind the rocket to find the source of the leak. At the press conference, NASA Artemis mission director Mike Sarafin said the team could try the test again as early as Thursday, but would have to work around a loaded program at the Kennedy Space Center, including the launch. of Crew-4 SpaceX Crew Dragon Mission to International Space Station on Saturday 23 April.
Recommendations of the authors
