NASA now aims to launch the Artemis 1 mission by spring of 2022 instead of this year. Instead, the heavy-lift rocket and Orion spacecraft's test flight in the summer would be more feasible. Still, the space agency hopes for a 2021 launch date for its Space Launch System rocket to make its first mission.
The space agency is already two months delayed for testing and integrating the rocket at Kennedy Space Center. However, the crucial pre-flight tests are still ahead of schedule. A spokesman told Ars Technica that NASA aims to launch the Artemis 1 mission before the end of this year.
Modal Testing Still Ongoing at Kennedy Space Center
Technicians and engineers in Florida finished stacking the SLS rocket and its side boosters last August, as Science Times reported. The rocket was then fitted with a 'mass simulator' for Orion.
Currently, NASA and its contractors are conducting vibration testing on the completed rocket to understand better the difference between natural full-stack vibrations and vibrations generated by external factors. This data will be put into the flying simulator.
NASA planned to finish this work by July. However, the agency's Kathryn Hambleton told Ars Technica that the vibration, or 'modal' testing, is still ongoing at Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building.
The mass simulator will be uninstalled after this testing, and the Orion spacecraft will be securely mounted on top of the rocket with its launch abort system. This procedure might take many weeks.
Next, the SLS stack will be moved to Launch Pad 39B for a 'wet dress rehearsal.' The spacecraft will be fuelled, and much of the real countdown will be replicated. The vehicle's engines, on the other hand, will not be started. This wet-dress test, according to a source, will most likely take place in November or December.
Stacking is complete for the twin Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Artemis I mission.
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After this test, the vehicle will be wheeled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building for final checks and closeouts. The SLS rocket may launch next spring if the wet dress rehearsal goes as planned and other operations are completed on time.
If there are any more delays, or if the wet dress rehearsal uncovers new difficulties, the launch will most certainly be pushed until next summer.
Space Agency Considering Other Factors Before Launch
Hambleton acknowledged that the space agency's timeline has been slipping. She added that the space agency is keeping an eye on the rising number of COVID cases in the Kennedy region, which, along with other factors like weather and first-time procedures, affects the operation's timeline.
NASA, according to Hambleton, will provide an update on launch dates soon. She said that the agency will announce an anticipated date for the wet dress rehearsal and rocket launch after modal testing and stacking of Orion on top of the rocket. "As always, we will fly only when we are ready," she explained.
According to NASA, the law that established the Space Launch System was enacted in October 2010. The agency added that the rocket was scheduled to be operational in 2016.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida was one of the major politicians pushing the rocket's development. He said that the space agency and its regular contractors could perform a better job than anybody else.
Nelson said at the time, per Space News, that the cost of that rocket will be less than what was projected in the NASA Authorization act. According to the law, the cost of the rocket over a 5-6 year period would be no more than $11.5 billion. Later, he suggested in another Ars Technica report that if they cannot build a rocket for $11.5 billion, they "ought to close up shop."
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