Nasa begins dress rehearsal of SLS rocket for lunar missions
Dress rehearsal for NASA’s SLS rocket
© 2022 AFP
The US space agency Nasa has started important tests of its new giant moon rocket SLS.
The US space agency Nasa has started important tests of its new giant moon rocket SLS. The two-day tests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida include the simulation of a start countdown, as announced by NASA on Friday (local time). It is the dress rehearsal for the unmanned moon mission Artemis 1, which is scheduled to start in a few months.
NASA said the countdown had started. The data from this simulation should help determine a launch date for Artemis 1. First, NASA announced that there was a first launch window for the SLS rocket in May. In the meantime, however, a later date in the summer seems more likely. Artemis 1 is intended to pave the way for renewed US manned moon missions in the coming years.
During the tests, which will last until Sunday, the 98 meter high rocket will be refueled with 2.6 million liters of fuel. This is extremely cooled down liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. All other precautions that are necessary before the rocket is properly launched are also practiced. However, the rocket’s engines should not be switched on. They had already been tested beforehand.
The countdown should be stopped about ten seconds before the end. With the final draining of the fuel, a safe take-off abort in the event of technical problems or bad weather should then be practiced. A few days later, the rocket and Orion space capsule are scheduled to be returned to an assembly hall at the space center for further testing.
NASA wants to use the giant SLS rockets and an Orion space capsule to bring astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. For the Artemis 1 mission, the SLS rocket will first orbit the moon without a crew and then return to Earth. Astronauts are expected to orbit the moon with Artemis 2 in 2024.
Only Artemis 3 should then actually land with astronauts on the earth’s satellite. Nasa also plans to send the first woman to the moon and build a space station to orbit the moon. NASA wants to test technologies for the first Mars missions planned for the 2030s on the terrestrial satellite. According to NASA, the first four launches of the SLS rocket into space will each cost 4.1 billion dollars (3.7 billion euros).