NASA Megarocket Launch Rehearsal Set For June 6; Artemis 1 Launch Mission To Follow

NASA's ambitious missions might soon see reality as the premier space agency gears up for the rehearsal of its megarocket. The NASA Space Launch System's full-fledged launch rehearsal has been scheduled for June after resolving technical issues by the ground team. The rehearsal is a major step for the Artemis mission.

NASA SLS Rehearsal Details

Cliff Lanhman, the senior vehicle operations manager at NASA, said in a press release that the SLS rehearsal will take place on June 5. The testing will begin at 6 PM ET (around 3:30 AM, June 6 in Indian time). The event will witness the Crawler-Transporter 2 making its first motion at midnight on June 6, ET.

Next, the loading of cryogenic propellants will occur around June 19. But the thunderstorms in Florida summer could further alter the dates. To recall, this rehearsal was initially set to take place in April. But after hiccups and technical issues, the rehearsal has been pushed to June. NASA will now fill the massive megarocket with super-cooled propellant and rehearse a full countdown.

The press statement from Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for common exploration systems development at NASA, further explained the rehearsal and the delay behind it. He said that the rocket is very robust and straightforward, but that cryogenics tends to complicate things.

NASA Rehearsal For Artemis Mission

The NASA SLS rehearsal is an important step for one of the most ambitious missions of the premier space agency. The inaugural launch will also open the door for the Artemis mission, which involves sending astronauts on the Moon to further explore the lunar surface. The Artemis mission will further help build a gateway on the Moon.

This would be NASA's base for liftoff to explore other planets like Mars, which is set to happen in the late 2030s or early 2040s. The base would be the first construction on the Moon, which would aid in further explorations. For the same, Whitmeyer confirmed that the NASA Artemis 1 launch could happen in August.

He further stated the Artemis 1 mission will have launch periods on August 1, 2, 6, and 10. It would also extend from August 23 to September 6 for additional launch dates. For the same, the SLS rocket would have an uncrewed Orion capsule on a round-trip mission to the Moon.