NASA attempts fourth wet dress rehearsal for Artemis 1 rocket

NASA said Monday there are three new issues under evaluation, including a “small grass fire” near the hydrogen flare stack at pad 39B, as well as a possible hydrogen leak in a quick disconnect on the SLS core stage.

NASA needs a successful test to complete the data needed to set an official launch datewhich could come later this summer.

“We’re feeling really good,” Wes Mosedale, technical assistant to NASA’s Artemis 1 launch director, said earlier Monday. “The liquid hydrogen tank is now 100% full on the SLS core stage. Liquid oxygen is 80% loaded onto the core stage.”

Monday’s trial was expected to end with two runs of the countdown’s final 10 minutes to prove the rocket can be safely loaded with propellant and to make sure launch day procedures, without actually launching, go smoothly.

A previous wet dress in April was cut short after NASA had to scrub the test due to valve, fueling and leaking issues. The rocket was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for troubleshooting and repairs.

“Rolling back was absolutely the right thing to do to be able to work through the issues we found at the pad,” Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said during a news briefing May 5.

NASA made a total of three attempts to complete the wet dress rehearsal, but each attempt was plagued by some sort of glitch with the rocket, the mobile launch platform or the ground system equipment that supplies the rocket with fuel.

The SLS was designed to launch NASA’s return to the moon. The mission is to provide data on how the Artemis rocket performs in deep space, and ultimately will pave the way for future crewed flights around the moon and to the lunar surface, NASA officials have said.