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NASA will perform a second critical engine test for its first space launch system mega-socket in February, after the first attempt completed earlier than expected this month.
“NASA plans to conduct a second hot green light test as early as the fourth week of February with the main stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will launch the Artemis 1 mission to the moon,” said Friday. NASA officials in a statement. (January 29).
Artemis 1 is the first unmanned SLS rocket test flight for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to bring astronauts back to the Moon by 2024. The mission was slated to launch to the Moon later this year. But this timeline depends on the success of the SLS rocket in its “green run” tests, a series of tests to prove that the booster is ready to fly. On January 16, when NASA first fired the four main RS-25 engines on the SLS midstage, they shut down much earlier than expected.
This test, which was to last 485 seconds, or just over 8 minutes, stopped only 67 seconds after the engines had ignited. Due to this unexpected early termination, NASA and prime contractor Boeing decided to conduct a second hot fire test, NASA officials said.
Video: How NASA’s megarocket SLS engine test works
This second hot fire will provide additional data to help certify the rocket’s center stage for flight and is expected to pose minimal risk to the center stage, according to the same statement.
After the first hot fire test, the main stage equipment, including the RS-25 engines and the B-2 test stand, remained in “excellent condition”, the same release said, “and no major repairs required to prepare for a second hot fire test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. ”
Yet to prepare for the test, the team, while continuing to analyze the data from the first hot fire, dry and renovate the SLS engines, make minor repairs to the system’s thermal protection system and update the parameters of the system. conservative control logic that was responsible for the first test ending early, according to NASA.
A second hot fire test lasting at least four minutes (approximately) would provide enough data to help show the main stage is ready for flight, the statement said. This second hot fire would also allow the mission team to collect data on the performance of the central stage of the rocket over a longer period.
After this test, the team will take about a month to refurbish the center stage and rocket engines before the center stage is brought to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be replenished with d other parts of the SLS mega-socket.
In addition to Artemis 1 SLS rocket tests, NASA has resumed testing of individual RS-35 engines for future Artemis flights. On Thursday, January 28, the space agency successfully fired an RS-25 engine for its entire eight-minute duration as part of these tests.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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