NASA and Boeing engineers are evaluating how to proceed with the final test Space launch system (SLS) Moon-bound megaket after an opening shutdown during “Weight Dress Rehearsal” on Sunday (December 20).
The launch date for Artemis 1, the first unlicensed flight of NASA’s program to land humans on the moon by 2024, is at stake. This lunar-orbiting mission is to take off at the end of 2021, but to a large extent Depending on the time and successful testing of SLS The rocket preceded a trip to Florida for final construction and launch.
The trial operation has been slowed by reducing the spread of COVID-19 and a string of storms in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this month, the team managed to get past Ground equipment issues in loading propellantFully equipped rocket tanks with 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. While the original phase “performed well” with propellant loading and refill at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the test ended unexpectedly early, according to a NASA statement.
Photos: NASA’s 1SLS Megacarket Core Phase for the Moon Has Its Engines
“Part of the test was to simulate a countdown with a loaded tank, leading to 33 seconds before the engine firing,” NASA officials wrote. In a blog post published on Monday (21 December).
“However, the trial countdown ended within a few minutes of the planned countdown period. The core phase and B-2 test stand are in excellent condition, and this does not appear to be an issue with the hardware. The team is evaluating the data Is. Indicate the exact cause of the early shutdown. “
After NASA completes this dress rehearsal, the SLS will undergo a “hot fire” test, during which all four of the rocket’s engines will be fired at the same time to ensure that they are set for spaceflight. . The agency has not outlined options This test plan If more work is required to prepare the SLS for flight.
NASA’s challenges in its quest to bring humans to the moon by 2024 are not just related to SLS. The agency is also facing funding issues for its Human Landing System (HLS) program in its fiscal 2021 budget of $ 23.3 billion. HLS Only $ 850 million was received, a quarter of the administration’s $ 3.3 billion request; That said, the Orion spacecraft, SLS and exploration ground systems were at or above NASA’s requested budget for those elements.
The agency’s administrator, Jim Bridenstein, told the National Space Council on December 9 that NASA would need its full HLS budgetary request to make the moon-landing deadline on time. “Ultimately, if we don’t get $ 3.3 billion, it becomes more and more difficult,” he said.
A timely lunar landing will also depend on NASA completing all technology tests for related lunar systems, such as New spacecraft to protect astronauts on the lunar surface. Earlier this month, the agency 18 astronauts placed on shortlist for moon mission; other than this, The Canadian Space Agency prepared one of its four astronauts, which would be involved in the preparation Artemis 2 crew lunar and orbit missions Scheduled for 2023.
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