KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — NASA announced that it has repaired the helium flow issue that forced the U.S. space agency to roll the Artemis II moon rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
What You Need To Know
The seal has been replaced and NASA is trying to determine what caused the issue
NASA has not released a date of when the Artemis II moon rocket will be rolled back to the launch pad
“With NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians have accessed the launch vehicle stage adapter to inspect components that prevented helium from flowing to the upper stage after a Feb. 21 wet dress rehearsal,” NASA announced on Tuesday.
NASA engineers discovered that a faulty seal in the quick disconnect section of the rocket, where the helium flows from the ground systems to the rocket, was blocking the path.
Engineers made repairs and ran tests to validate the fix to the upper stage, NASA stated, adding that the team is trying to determine how the seal became dislodged.
The Artemis II has seen some issues, from a liquid hydrogen leak at the rocket’s tail service mast umbilical interface into the core stage during the first wet dress rehearsal, or prelaunch test, to making additional repairs during a separate test.
The second wet dress rehearsal went well (with the replacement seal showing a 1% leak rate), but once that was done, the helium flow issue was discovered.
And that is what caused NASA to roll the Space Launch System rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
These issues have pushed the launch of the Artemis II flyby mission to the moon twice, with the next launch attempt being eyed for April.
While the rocket was in the Vehicle Assembly Building, technicians did some additional work.
“They are activating a new set of flight termination system batteries ahead of end-to-end retesting of the system and also are replacing the flight batteries on the upper stage, core stage, and solid rocket boosters, and charging the Orion launch abort system batteries,” NASA revealed.
NASA has not yet released the date of when they will roll the moon rocket back to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
When it does launch, NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen will do a flyby of Earth’s lunar sister.
Artemis II possible April launch dates