NASA targets March 6 to launch astronauts on a long-awaited mission around the moon
NASA plans March 6 to launch four astronauts for a highly anticipated flight around the Moon, agency officials announced Friday.
The date was set after NASA completed an elaborate refueling test and step-by-step analysis of launch day on Thursday, filling its Space Launch System rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant and simulating nearly every step of the countdown to liftoff.
The successful dress rehearsal means astronauts could be two weeks away from venturing to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
The mission, called Artemis II, will be the first time that NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule will carry people. During their 10-day journey, the four astronauts are expected to reach a greater distance from Earth than any human has before.
Thursday’s refueling test, which lasted several hours, was a huge milestone for NASA. This was the second attempt at what is called a wet dress rehearsal; the first, on February 2, was aborted after the agency discovered a hydrogen leak coming from part of the rocket’s tail. The leaks forced mission leaders to abandon all launch opportunities this month.
Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said the March 6 launch date still depends on the completion of work on the launch pad to prepare the rocket for flight and ultimately depends on the full results of Thursday’s training.
The teams are also expected to conduct what’s called a flight readiness review late next week, during which mission leaders and top NASA officials will have to formally certify the rocket and spacecraft for flight.
“These things are all in front of us,” Glaze said Friday during a press briefing. “We need to get through all of this. But assuming that happens, it puts us in a very good position to aim for March 6.”
In the weeks between the first and second wet dress rehearsals, engineers worked to repair the leaks they had discovered. They replaced two seals on the fuel lines and performed other repairs and tests on the launch pad. Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said the work appeared to be paying off, as the joints were “rock solid” on Thursday.
“Getting rid of that wet dress was a big step for us,” she added.
The four members of the Artemis II crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — did not participate in the wet dress rehearsal, but Glaze said several of them were at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the test.
“I got to talk a little bit with Reid Wiseman, with Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen,” Glaze said. “They’re all very, very excited. I was happy that they could be here for the wet dress. They’re really getting a lot of anticipation for a potential launch in March.”
The astronauts are expected to enter quarantine Friday afternoon in Houston to minimize their exposure to germs before the mission. About five days before launch, they are expected to fly to Florida and continue their pre-flight quarantine at the Kennedy Space Center.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
