The launch team repaired the leaking hydrogen seal and provided a gentle hydrogen loading procedure to overcome the problem. Hydrogen is a very effective rocket fuel, but its extremely cold temperature and small size of hydrogen molecules make it vulnerable to leakage. Hydrogen feeds the SLS rocket’s four core stage engines and single upper stage engine.
“I was a test flight for Artemis 1, and we learned a lot during that launch campaign,” said Charlie Blackwell Thompson, NASA’s Artemis 2 launch manager. “The things we learned in terms of how to load this vehicle, how to load LOX (liquid oxygen), how to load hydrogen, have all been integrated into the way we intend to load the Artemis II vehicle.”
NASA is hesitant to publicly set a target launch date until the agency finishes exercises, but agency officials say a February launch is still possible.
“We stuck to schedule well to get started today,” Isaacman said. “We have no intention of reporting an actual launch date until we’re out of the wet. But look, this is our first window, and if everything goes according to plan, I know the teams are ready, I know this crew is ready, and we’ll take it.”
“Wet clothes are the driving force behind the takeoff,” Blackwell-Thompson said. “With a wet dress without major issues, if everything goes as planned, there are definitely opportunities to be had during February.
One of the obstacles that hampered NASA’s Artemis I launch campaign is no longer a significant factor in Artemis II. On Artemis 1, NASA had to return the rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) after a wet dress rehearsal to complete final installation and testing of the flight termination system, which consists of a series of pyrotechnic charges designed to destroy the rocket if it veers off course and threatens populated areas after liftoff.
The U.S. Space Force’s Eastern Range, which is responsible for the public safety of all launches from Florida’s Space Coast, requires the flight termination system to be retested after 28 to 35 days, a clock that began ticking last week before commissioning. During Artemis I, technicians were unable to access the parts of the rocket they needed to perform retesting on the launch pad. NASA now has structural arms to give ground teams the ability to access parts of the top of the rocket for retesting without returning to the hangar.
Thanks to this new capability, Artemis II can remain on the pad for launch opportunities in February and March before officials need to return it to VAB to replace the flight termination system batteries, which remain inaccessible on the pad.