Photo: NASA Exploration Ground Systems
It’s been a long road getting here, but the American space agency is finally capable to say it overcame a major hurdle on its race to the Moon. The second wet dress rehearsal test was conducted on Monday, and even if it didn’t go without a hitch, at least one major test objective was achieved.
The test, having started as scheduled, pretty much went without a problem, until the crew got to filling the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with fuel. Then, an issue we’ve heard of before and was allegedly dealt with in the two months or so the rocket spent in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), reared its ugly head once more.
That would be a leak, in this case of hydrogen, coming from the “quick disconnect that attaches an umbilical from the tail service mast on the mobile launcher to the rocket’s core stage. “
Several procedures were tried to get the thing to stop leaking, including warming it and cooling it back down, but in the end, efforts made “did not fix the issue.”
So what did the rocket scientists do? They decided to “mask data associated with the leak,” so that a hold by the ground launch sequencer is not triggered, and the countdown could begin as soon as possible.
Now, that’s a bit like cheating, and as far as we know, not something the agency usually does, but we’re sort of reminded this was not a real launch scenario, and the goal was to see if engineers can get them tanks filled.
And they did, “the first time the team fully loaded all the Space Launch System rocket’s propellant tanks and proceeded into the terminal launch countdown.”
The test was declared complete with the countdown clock showing T minus 29 seconds, but the agency is yet to declare it a success. A conference is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, at 11 a.m. EDT, and that’s probably when we’ll learn some more.
That would be a leak, in this case of hydrogen, coming from the “quick disconnect that attaches an umbilical from the tail service mast on the mobile launcher to the rocket’s core stage. “
Several procedures were tried to get the thing to stop leaking, including warming it and cooling it back down, but in the end, efforts made “did not fix the issue.”
So what did the rocket scientists do? They decided to “mask data associated with the leak,” so that a hold by the ground launch sequencer is not triggered, and the countdown could begin as soon as possible.
Now, that’s a bit like cheating, and as far as we know, not something the agency usually does, but we’re sort of reminded this was not a real launch scenario, and the goal was to see if engineers can get them tanks filled.
And they did, “the first time the team fully loaded all the Space Launch System rocket’s propellant tanks and proceeded into the terminal launch countdown.”
The test was declared complete with the countdown clock showing T minus 29 seconds, but the agency is yet to declare it a success. A conference is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, at 11 a.m. EDT, and that’s probably when we’ll learn some more.
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