The Next SLS Fueling Test Is Underway...

NASA / Ben Smegelsky

Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal: Countdown Begins (News Release)

The countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal is underway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The countdown clock began at 6:50 p.m. EST Tuesday, or L-49 hours, 40 minutes before the opening of a simulated launch window at 8:30 p.m., Thursday, February 19. The test is expected to go until approximately 12:30 a.m., Friday, February 20.

The test will run the launch team, as well as supporting teams in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and other supporting NASA centers, through a full range of operations, including loading cryogenic liquid propellant into the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s tanks, conducting a launch countdown, demonstrating the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and draining the tanks to practice scrub procedures. These steps ensure that the team is fully prepared for launch day.

In parallel, teams are preparing to install temporary platforms onto the Mobile Launcher after a successful wet dress rehearsal and are staging associated equipment near the launch pad. The platforms will allow technicians to service flight termination system elements in the upper left and right segments of the solid rocket boosters and core stage intertank for required testing of the system to meet Eastern Range safety requirements ahead of a potential March launch opportunity.

A 24/7 live stream of the rocket at the pad continues online. NASA will provide a separate feed capturing tanking activities, and NASA will provide real-time blog post updates regarding the test during the fueling day.

Source: NASA.Gov