John Paul M. Joaquin Science 04.06.2022 04:Apr AM EDT

NASA Delays Artemis I’s 'Wet Dress Rehearsal' Yet Again

NASA may have to wait until the weekend to test its Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis missions.

A recent Space.com article mentioned that the NASA placed Artemis I's final "wet dress rehearsal" on hold to give way to SpaceX's astronaut mission launches scheduled later this week.

The Administration expects Artemis I's wet dress rehearsal could be completed this weekend at the earliest.

Artemis I's Wet Dress Rehearsal Delay

According to Space.com, SpaceX will be initiating private Ax-1 astronaut mission launches from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on April 8.

SpaceX previously scheduled the launch of its Ax-1 mission for April 3 but was delayed by a few days to give way to Artemis I's wet dress rehearsal. The latest wet dress rehearsal attempt for Artemis I was deemed unsuccessful due to a valve issue on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's ground equipment.

SpaceX's Ax-1 astronaut mission launches, organized by Houston-based company Axiom Space, will send three paying customers and one Axiom employee to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

The mission will take 10 days and will use KSC's Pad 39A, which is next to the launch pad being used for the Artemis I wet dress rehearsal.

Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in today's call that the team handling Artemis I's wet dress rehearsal will "fall in behind them," adding that they have got to finish "sharpening the pencil" on their open work.

"... we don't anticipate that it'll be much longer than that after the launch," Sarafin said.

Artemis I's Current Status

The Artemis team completed two primary objectives and three of the five secondary objectives of the launch's wet dress rehearsal before running into issues during its previous attempts on April 3 and 4, per Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell Thompson of the Exploration Ground Systems Program at KSC. This means that engineers and technicians will not have to start everything all over again.

"This time, we're looking at something significantly shorter - I would say something in about a 36-hour timeframe," Blackwell Thompson said.

Blackwell-Thompson and other NASA officials also added that the Artemis I SLS and the uncrewed Orion spacecraft are in good condition despite the storm that caused lightning strikes around the perimeter of KSC's Pad 39B on April 2, per NASA's blog post.

Blackwell-Thompson expressed her desire to have had the wet dress rehearsal finished yesterday, but she believes that NASA does some of its best work when solving problems.

"... I think NASA does some of its best work when it's solving problems because I think that's part of what calls us to this," she said. "It's that curiosity, it's that love of exploration, but it's also the fact that you have these things you're going to meet head-on, and you're going to go solve."

The wet dress rehearsal is the last major test NASA needs to do before a rocket can be launched, per NASA's blog post. This test allows the team to practice propellant loading and thoroughly check out the Artemis I rocket systems as they are exposed to cryogenics.

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