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Today, NASA will host a press conference discussing the Artemis II mission, after several delays to the mission that will take four astronauts around the moon.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), rolled out to the launch pad in January for a planned launch in February. But first the rocket had to undergo a wet dress rehearsal, where NASA conducts a run-through of a launch, including fuelling it with hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
During the first wet dress, the rocket experienced hydrogen leaks, a problem that also arose during the uncrewed Artemis I wet dress rehearsal. That pushed the next launch window to early March.
NASA conducted a second wet dress rehearsal on Feb. 19. It appeared to have resolved the hydrogen leak, but later discovered a problem with helium flow to the upper-stage engines. As a result, the rocket was rolled back the the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Feb. 25, and NASA ruled out a March launch.
NASA has since addressed the helium issue, installed new batteries for the SLS upper stage, core stage (the orange tank) and solid rocket boosters, and planned to retest the flight termination system, which would destroy the rocket in the event of a loss of control.
Today’s press conference is NASA’s flight readiness review — a key near-final step before launch.
If NASA has resolved the outstanding issues and no new problems arise, the next launch window opens on April 1 and closes April 6.
The Artemis II mission will carry Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen alongside NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch on a flight path around the moon.
Last month, newly appointed NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced a change to the Artemis program, saying Artemis III would no longer aim for a lunar landing. Instead, it would be a test mission to dock with one of its lunar landers, which have been developed under contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin.
