Washington – NASAOn Friday, the US space agency began the first, a critical two-day test of its giant rocket Space Launch System (SLS). Known as the General Fuel Cycle Test, this test is the last major test before the mission. Artemis 1 This summer: a flight to the moon with a drone.
The checks this weekend, which includes a countdown simulation, come as the agency prepares for a new mission to take humans to the moon, but that mission likely won’t take place until 2026.
“This is the last inspection of the project before launch (without pilot)said Tom Whitmaier, a senior NASA official. “The data collected in the test will be used to schedule the Artemis 1 mission. May may be the first launch window, but now it’s likely to be later,” NASA said.
Designed to be the most powerful in history when operational, the 98-meter rocket was prepared for liftoff from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida about two weeks ago.
Testing began at 5 p.m. local time on Friday with a “call to stations” as members of the launch control team arrived at the rooms and a 45-hour countdown began.
With the SLS rocket and Orion crew capsule attached at the top of the illumination, the crew continues to load 3.2 million liters of fuel and perform actions such as countdown stops and other checks.
The RS-25 missile engines have been tested before and will not be launched. What the team will do is pause the countdown about 10 seconds before takeoff, to simulate a “rubbing”, when the launch is halted due to technical or weather issues.
The fuel will be drained and after a few days the SLS and Orion will return to the Vehicle Assembly Building to assess progress.
Test milestones will be posted on NASA’s Artemis mission blog, but the agency won’t be releasing internal audio directly from the test, as it has done in the past for space shuttle missions.
Whitmer explained that this is because some background information, including the chronology, can help other countries that want to develop long-range missiles.
“We are very sensitive to cryogenic launch vehicles of this size and capacity, they are very similar to the ballistic capabilities that our countries care so much about,” he said, though he added that the agency could re-evaluate its ability position. In the future. /France Press agency
