NASA Returns SLS Moon Rocket To Assembly Site, What's Up?

NASA has not set a date for the flight of the SLS rocket (photo: Doc. NASA)

JAKARTA - NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is reportedly going to be returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to undergo various repairs, from what was previously on the runway of Launch Complex 39B.

According to NASA, this was due to a necessary upgrade in the offsite nitrogen gas supplier used for the test. Problems with the supply of nitrogen gas, which is used to support activity on the pad, have delayed the previous two countdown exercises.

NASA did not say when the vehicle would return to the runway. The agency added it would spend time at VAB repairing a faulty helium check valve in the SLS upper level and a hydrogen leak detected after it began loading liquid hydrogen into the rocket's core stage during a test run on April 14.

Since April 1, NASA has attempted three times to complete the wet dress exercise of its mission to the Moon, Artemis 1. The test is designed to replicate the countdown procedure that SLS will undergo when the mission is set to take place later this year.

On April 14, NASA attempted to complete a modified version, but the test was halted after discovering the aforementioned hydrogen leak in the rocket's mobile launch tower. Initially, NASA left the door open for another test scheduled for April 21 but later changed its mind.

Therefore, Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin suggested returning SLS to VAB was the best option.

“There are some more invasive options that require going further into the hardware and potentially having to go into some extended troubleshooting. That work is probably best done in the VAB," Sarafin said as quoted by SpaceNews, Monday, April 14.

Sarafin said engineers must also consider environmental concerns due to placing vehicles on the runway for long periods of time, such as wind pressure on a vehicle that is soaring high.

“The longer we are on the pad, the more we burden the vehicle. Every time the wind blows against it, it creates a bending moment and, over time, it adds up."

Even so, this delay may have an effect on the timeline for the Artemis 1 mission. NASA has yet to set a date for the flight, and will not do so until SLS rehearsal is complete.

Despite all the problems NASA is facing with its next-generation rocket, they remain confident the mission will launch.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to finish this pilot campaign, and we're going to listen to the hardware, and the data will take us to the next step," said Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

"And we will take the right steps, and we will launch this vehicle."