“There is no one who wants to get over this more than the EGS (Exploration Ground Systems) team and all our teams … to put this vehicle in tanks, figure out where we get to the terminal count and then come back. … For launch, “said Jim Free, director of exploration development at NASA headquarters. The countdown started at 5:30 p.m. EDT and if all goes well, the two-day test will begin in the final hours of Monday morning, when engineers plan to remotely load the first and second stages of the rocket with three-quarters of a million gallons of supernatant liquid oxygen and hydrogen. A full moon sets behind NASA’s Space Launch Rocket at peak 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. On Saturday, NASA launched a two-day countdown test and power test to pave the way for a drone flight over the moon and back later this summer. William Harwood / CBS News Startup manager Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team plan to count down to the T-minus 33 seconds and then perform a recycle that mimics an unscheduled grip before counting to the end of the T-minus 10 seconds. At that point, just before the four main engines of the rocket start the start sequence in a real launch, the computers will stop testing. The goal is to ensure that sophisticated launcher control software, electrical, mechanical and rocket propulsion systems, together with their interfaces with launcher support equipment, work together as required to securely launch the most powerful amplifier ever built. never for NASA. These complications occurred in three previous attempts to power the SLS, as engineers encountered problems with the launch pad subsystems, unexpected boost temperature and pressure surges, a blocked upper stage helium valve, and a leak in a fitting line. rocket. first stage. Originally flown to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on March 18, NASA carried the 330-foot SLS rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 25 to replace the helium valve, correct the hydrogen leak, and make many other upgrades and improvements. . Hydrogen leaks are known to be difficult to detect and eliminate because they usually do not occur until the material is exposed to cryogenic temperatures. But Free is optimistic that working to tighten a flange on the fuel line connector has solved the problem. The Space Launch System rocket is the most powerful amplifier ever built for NASA, has a height of 330 feet and is capable of generating an impulse of 8.8 million pounds during takeoff. William Harwood / CBS News “We fixed some things we saw around the area where we saw the leak, including going back to some of the procedures we used and the know-how from the bus days, which we really benefited from,” he said. “Obviously, we will not know the results until we actually drop the liquid hydrogen on the pillow. “We also worked on some of the loading processes,” he continued. “We saw some things with LOX (liquid oxygen) and hydrogen to which our team was able to return (and) automate these processes, which we know will help us in the upcoming flow.” Along with dealing with the hydrogen leak, engineers replaced the helium valve after locating some rubber debris in the mechanism. They also modified the refueling procedures to eliminate some of the pressure and temperature problems encountered earlier. Mounted on top of a powerful crawler-carrier, the SLS rocket and its mobile launch pad were brought back to the launch pad on June 6, laying the groundwork for this weekend’s fourth attempt to complete the rehearsal. Assuming the test goes well, NASA will move the rocket back to the VAB once again for final flight preparation. NASA hopes to finally launch the SLS in late August, boosting an unmanned Orion crew capsule on a test flight over the moon and back. The first pilot mission, a flight carrying four astronauts around the Moon, is scheduled for 2023 with a landing on the 2025 schedule. More William Harwood Bill Harwood has covered the US space program full-time since 1984, initially as head of Cape Canaveral’s office for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. It covered 129 space shuttle missions, each interplanetary flight since Voyager 2 to Poseidon, and dozens of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a dedicated amateur astronomer and co-author of Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia.
