NASA will not load fuels in SLS upper stage in next dress rehearsal countdown attempt
In the next attempt to complete the first “wet dress rehearsal” of NASA’s SLS rocket tomorrow, April 11th, the dress rehearsal will not be as wet as originally planned.
NASA said April 7 that engineers found a problem maintain helium purge pressure in the ICPS [SLS’s upper stage] after changing out a regulator in the mobile launch platform. At that time, the agency said it was able to restore normal pressure but was still studying the source of the problem, now linked to the faulty valve in the ICPS itself.
Because that issue, NASA now plans to limit the amount of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant loaded into the ICPS during the WDR. NASA said the countdown rehearsal will be modified with “minimal propellant operations” on the ICPS, but didn’t elaborate on how much propellant would be transferred into the upper stage.
As usual, NASA officials are now making believe that they will achieve all their goals for the dress rehearsal if they complete it without completely fueling the upper stage. This is intellectually dishonest. This dress rehearsal was intended to test all aspects of the rocket’s launch countdown, including the fueling of all its stages. If they complete it without successfully fueling the upper stage, they will not achieve all their goals. Period.
The plan right now is to attempt this revised launch rehearsal tomorrow, then return the rocket to the vehicle assembly building where engineers will replace the faulty valve. At that point it is unclear what the agency will do next.
Though this incomplete test will have taught them a lot, if they do not redo the dress rehearsal with full loading of all stages but instead proceed to a launch attempt in the present target window from June 6 to June 16, they will be doing so with a greater risk. Of course, if the new valve works during that launch attempt, then all should be well. In fact, this risk appears quite reasonable.
Nonetheless, the fundamental problem remains: NASA is under pressure to launch, and held off this kind of testing until very late in the program. Finding these problems now puts serious limits on the ability of the agency to fix them. This in turn puts serious limits on the reliability of SLS.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
In the next attempt to complete the first “wet dress rehearsal” of NASA’s SLS rocket tomorrow, April 11th, the dress rehearsal will not be as wet as originally planned.
NASA said April 7 that engineers found a problem maintain helium purge pressure in the ICPS [SLS’s upper stage] after changing out a regulator in the mobile launch platform. At that time, the agency said it was able to restore normal pressure but was still studying the source of the problem, now linked to the faulty valve in the ICPS itself.
Because that issue, NASA now plans to limit the amount of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant loaded into the ICPS during the WDR. NASA said the countdown rehearsal will be modified with “minimal propellant operations” on the ICPS, but didn’t elaborate on how much propellant would be transferred into the upper stage.
As usual, NASA officials are now making believe that they will achieve all their goals for the dress rehearsal if they complete it without completely fueling the upper stage. This is intellectually dishonest. This dress rehearsal was intended to test all aspects of the rocket’s launch countdown, including the fueling of all its stages. If they complete it without successfully fueling the upper stage, they will not achieve all their goals. Period.
The plan right now is to attempt this revised launch rehearsal tomorrow, then return the rocket to the vehicle assembly building where engineers will replace the faulty valve. At that point it is unclear what the agency will do next.
Though this incomplete test will have taught them a lot, if they do not redo the dress rehearsal with full loading of all stages but instead proceed to a launch attempt in the present target window from June 6 to June 16, they will be doing so with a greater risk. Of course, if the new valve works during that launch attempt, then all should be well. In fact, this risk appears quite reasonable.
Nonetheless, the fundamental problem remains: NASA is under pressure to launch, and held off this kind of testing until very late in the program. Finding these problems now puts serious limits on the ability of the agency to fix them. This in turn puts serious limits on the reliability of SLS.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Ok, so…. if this thing ever launches, it’s going to explode, isn’t it?
(and somehow… Putin and Trump, will be blamed.)
Wayne, this whole mess is giving me serious Challenger vibes. Read up on Richard Feynman’s account when he was part of the team to investigate what happened. As with both that and the Columbia disaster, NASA had an attitude of accepting bad things happening. Their attitude was “well, nothing bad has happened so far”, but that ignored the fact that those things weren’t supposed to happen in the first place.
The unique thing that SLS can do is move the heavy Orion, which is heavy because it can sustain a crew longer than Dragon, because it has an EU service module. Why don’t we launch a Starship to orbit, refuel it, and send up a crew on Dragon. Go to moon, land, then reverse the process. We might have to refuel in lunar orbit, but it makes more sense than building ginormous throw-away rockets to launch once a year!
That being said, why can’t the Dragon’s trunk contain the systems that are provided by the Orion’s service module? Why have a slightly larger-than-Dragon capsule that is still not big enough to go to Mars? Make Dragon lunar-orbit capable and use Starship for everything else. Sure this is not even “back of the envelope”, but I haven’t seen such questions addressed.
Meanwhile the “Use By” date on the SLS solid rocket motors continue to lurk as an ever growing risk that will force NASA management to fold. They simply cannot afford to risk another Challenger fiasco, most especially when they EXPLICITLY have to make the call to roll the dice to fly with out of date assemblies. IMHO they just won’t be able to do it. SLS is FUBAR.
Yes, SLS is FUBAR, and even worse it and brand new old-tech vehicles like Vulcan are going to clog the processes at Cape Canaveral and prevent rapid reuse vehicles from being used effectively. And at the same time the government clogs the system with SLS, they impede SpaceX establishing a new operational launch complex in Boca Chica!
We need to get going on alternate land-based and sea-based launch facilities right now! What about Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands?!
Ray Van Dune,
I can not speak for the US Virgin Islands, but I think Puerto Rico would not be a good spot due to the hurricanes. Yes, Florida gets them too, but Puerto Rico does get more of them. Puerto Rico’s infrastructure- power and especially the roads are not that good in my opinion. It would take a lot of investment just to gain 10 degrees (28 degrees at the Cape to 18 degrees in PR).
Something else to consider without getting off topic- what if you built a launch complex there, Puerto Rico becomes an independent country and we lose that site? PR is a territory, they call it a commonwealth, and the last couple of votes of the people have wanted to become a state. There have been times in the past when the people voted to become an independent country as well.
Good question though.
I also have wondered about alternative launch sites in the Caribbean, if KSC and Boca have issues. Flown many times into Roosevelt Rhodes (Naval Air Sta), PR, Vieques, and St Croix, all US possessions. All have adequate available land, sea access, and optimal latitude. PR would seem ideal for polar launch. There are some eastward downrange “Leeward” islands but only minimal. Antigua (an independent country), has some in place NASA/DOD facilities and even more open down range.
Would seem good for the local, not so prosperous, economies., as well as extend national influence. As much as Virginia’s “spaceport” so readily welcomed private enterprise (Rocketlab) I can’t figure similar launch enterprise missing the Caribbean.
Always loved Donald Trump looking to buy Greenland, wished it had been; among other things a nice chilly launch site.
The launch industry has used the airplane example as to why reusable is desirable. Now that we have a reusable rocket, we are seeing that the airport model is not used at our launch sites. An airport is able to launch and land, several times a day, airplanes of different types and from different companies. It can even handle an airplane performing touch-and-go training or practice. Kennedy recently showed us that they can’t handle a test and a launch on neighboring days, much less on the same day.
We seem to still have a distance to go before the analogy works well at our launch sites.
Meantime, we are seeing the advantage of a company having its own launch sites. Rocket Lab will not run into this problem in New Zealand, but it may run into it at Wallops.
They haven’t ruled out a second WDR that *would* fully test the upper stage, but that’s still underwhelming. Via Eric Berger on Twitter: “Summary of the SLS wet dress update: Will perform core stage fueling test Thursday. Expect to get a lot of data. This will inform actions going forward which may, or may not, include a second wet dress test including the upper stage. Still hoping to launch Artemis 1 this summer.”
This quote caught my eye: “… a launch attempt in the present target window from June 6 to June 16…”
So it looks like they really are trying to delay Starship’s orbital flight with the booster so that it won’t launch until after this bloated beast is launched. You were right.
John S., I think you meant to write Roosevelt “Roads” Naval Station. A “roads” is an archaic term for a harbor, especially an expansive one with multiple anchorages. Did autocorrect get you like it has gotten me many times?
The Soviet N1 Moon Rocket Failure
https://youtu.be/gklVhRzkVqA
7:35
The upper stage is from a Delta guys– SLS is what it sits on,
Jeff, I must respectfully point out that it is the integrated launch PROCESS that is being tested, not simply the design of the components. In this case, many of the components are based on existing designs. Thus the use of the word “rehearsal”.
The eastern half of Vieques is a wasteland. I bet the US gov would give it away if SpaceX wanted to clean it up and turn it into Rocket City.
“I bet the US gov would give it away if SpaceX wanted to clean it up and turn it into Rocket City.”
Not with Musk running SpaceX. They HATE the very ground he walks on. He’s breaking Rice bowls left and right and forcing people out of their nice, secure sinecures. And, man, you should have seen thar hate that brewed up inside Twitter when it was thought he was going to be on its board – mainly driven by his politics and detestation of his advocacy of free speech (If there was any doubt, the mask is off – they like the idea of censorship, with them as the censors, off course)
Anyway, back in the Sixties, Project HARP was firing from Barbados.
I am a little surprised that people expect NASA to be competent at the whole space thing, as their stated goal is ‘Muslim Outreach’.
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0714/NASA-chief-says-agency-s-goal-is-Muslim-outreach-forgets-to-mention-space
I suppose they will have to make another dress rehearsal next year, or the year after that, when they think that they have solved the problems with the first attempt.
Blair Ivey,
I hope that Trump managed to change NASA’s goal from outreach to reaching the moon.