Artemis I Update: Countdown is Underway for Wet Dress Rehearsal (News Release)
At approximately 5 p.m. EDT today, the launch team arrived at their stations inside the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The countdown will begin 30 minutes later at 5:30 p.m. or L-45 hours, 10 minutes before the initial target T-0 for the wet dress rehearsal test for NASA’s Artemis I mission. Teams are proceeding with a modified test, primarily focused on tanking the core stage and minimal propellant operations on the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) with the ground systems at Kennedy. Tanking operations are scheduled to occur on Thursday, April 14.
Meteorologists with the U.S. Space Force 45th Space Wing predict favorable weather for propellant-loading operations. Weather constraints stipulate there must be less than a 20% chance lightning within 5 nautical miles of pad during the first hour of tanking. Winds also must not be above 37.5 knots and the temperature cannot be below 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
Overnight, teams will power up Orion and the Space Launch System core stage, charge Orion’s flight batteries to 100%, and prepare the four RS-25 engines, which will not be lit during the test.
During the test, the timing for some events on account of several planned operational demonstrations tied to specific capabilities and test objectives may differ from the day of launch countdown. These demonstrations include tests on the cryogenic systems and an approximately three-minute hold inside the terminal count, which would not normally occur on launch day. If needed, the test team may also hold as necessary to verify conditions before resuming the countdown, or use the test window or extend beyond it, if consumables and resources allow them to complete test objectives.
Source: NASA.Gov
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NASA’s countdown clock started ticking at 5:30pm EDT (2130 GMT) in preparation for the third attempt to load cryogenic propellants into the Space Launch System moon rocket. The countdown rehearsal will run through Thursday.
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 12, 2022
Watch a live launch pad view: https://t.co/9HuRpBQdiC pic.twitter.com/kgtLBRboUY
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