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Title: NASA Repairs Artemis 2 Rocket, Continues Eyeing April Moon Launch

Link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/03/2...

NASA is eyeing an April launch window for the upcoming Artemis II mission
after it repaired a helium-flow issue on the Space Launch System upper stage
rocket. "Work on the rocket and spacecraft will continue in the coming weeks
as NASA prepares for rolling the rocket out to the launch pad again later
this month ahead of a potential launch in April," NASA wrote in an update on
Tuesday. Space.com reports: The repair work occurred inside the huge Vehicle
Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
Artemis 2's SLS and Orion crew capsule have been in the VAB since Feb. 25,
when they rolled back to the hangar from KSC's Launch Pad 39B. Just a few
days earlier, the Artemis 2 stack successfully completed a wet dress
rehearsal, a two-day-long practice run of the procedures leading up to
launch. In the wake of that test, however, NASA noticed an interruption in
helium flow in the SLS' upper stage. That was a significant issue, because
helium pressurizes the rocket's propellant tanks. Rollback was the only
option, as the affected area in the upper stage was not accessible at the
pad. The problem took a potential March launch out of play for Artemis 2,
which will send four astronauts on a roughly 10-day flight around the moon.
It will be the first crewed flight to the lunar neighborhood since Apollo 17
in 1972. The next Artemis 2 launch window opens in April, with liftoff
opportunities on April 1, April 3-6 and April 30. And those options
apparently remain in play, thanks to recent work in the VAB. That work
centered on a seal in an interface through which helium flows from ground
equipment into the SLS upper stage. That seal was obstructing the interface,
which is known as a quick disconnect.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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