NASA is doing a crucial test before sending four astronauts to the moon on the SLS rocket from the Artemis II mission
The SLS rocket from NASA's Artemis 2 mission (photo JOE MARINO/UPI/Profimedia)
NASA is doing a very important test these days to make sure there are no problems with the gigantic SLS rocket that will put the Orion capsule on its way to the Moon, with four astronauts on board. In these days, NASA will fuel the rocket, which, if no more problems arise, will start for the Moon at the earliest on February 8.
NASA started a large test on Sunday that will have its climax from Monday to Tuesday. It's called a “wet dress rehearsal” because liquid fuel actually enters the tanks.
The SLS rocket has been on the LC-39B launch pad in Florida since January 17, and now, as part of this “wet” test, the rocket will be fueled with three million liters of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Then the fuel will be removed from the huge tanks, also as part of the big test.
The four astronauts will not take part in this “pre-launch” test. The crew should arrive in the area no later than six days before the actual launch.
And this power test was moved, due to the cold temperatures in Florida. We remind you that the actual launch, originally thought for (early) February 6, will not be earlier than February 8.
The “wet dress rehearsal” should end on February 3, at 1 a.m. in Florida (8 a.m. in Romania).
NASA also started and stopped the engines of various stages of the rocket, also to test them – and more tests will follow, for various components. The flight batteries of the Orion capsule will also be charged and the operation of some important components on the launch pad will be tested.
The Artemis II mission is scheduled to last 10 days and will carry a crew of four astronauts around the Moon, but without landing. They will do a “flyby” of the Moon, basically a detour, and the crew will be the furthest from Earth of any space mission, as they will be more than 6,000 km from the far side of the Moon.
The four astronauts will travel in the Orion capsule which will be launched using the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA. Called the Space Launch System, the rocket is 30 stories tall. According to the launch plan, after several stages, the “Orion spacecraft” will completely separate from the rocket three and a half hours after launch, to continue its journey to the Moon and back on its own.
The Orion capsule will come no closer than 6,400 km from the Moon's surface. From this distance, the Moon will appear to the four astronauts to be the size of an outstretched basketball.
