” All the goals we set for ourselves have been met. “Said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch manager for the Artemis I mission, despite some liquid hydrogen leaks that were not considered serious for the integrity of the launcher.
This partial filling test of the SLS’s hydrogen and oxygen tanks, carried out on September 21, had the objective of ensuring the correct operation of the defective seal that allows the filling of hydrogen at the origin of the second report and the joint that allows cooling of the four RS-25 engines, at the origin of the cancellation of the August 29 launch, of which certain experts described the decision to postpone the ignition as too cautious.
Artemis I: should launch cancellation be viewed as a failure?
Despite the apparent success of the test, NASA and the patron of the launch of the Artemis I mission did not want to declare that they were ready to launch at the next opportunity, on September 27.
If Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said “ I think the test went very well. however, he clarified that he “ it was premature to declare the SLS launcher ready for a new launch attempt” and what was necessary analyze the data well and see what it tells us “. She added “ No I don’t like to get ahead of the data and therefore go through it to see if there are any changes we need to make to our upload procedure, our timelines, or if we’re good as is “.
Structural stress, weather, FTS system are uncertainties that influence the launch date.
This padding test is not the only factor influencing the launch decision. NASA is still working with the space launch delta Four. Fivethe military unit in charge of guaranteeing the safety conditions for takeoffs from…
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