Fourth critical 'wet dress rehearsal' of NASA's massive moon rocket cut short

NASA's Space Launch System rocket sits on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, June 7, 2022. The vehicle underwent pre-launch tests but fell short of fully completing the "wet dress rehearsal." NASA says they are now evaluating the data to see what's next. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
NASA's Space Launch System rocket sits on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, June 7, 2022. The vehicle underwent pre-launch tests but fell short of fully completing the "wet dress rehearsal." NASA says they are now evaluating the data to see what's next. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK

NASA failed to complete a fourth critical "wet dress rehearsal" of its massive Space Launch System moon rocket Monday.

That could mean a delay in the launch of Artemis I, the uncrewed around-the-moon mission now targeted for August. Any delay will likely push the return of astronauts to the moon, now slated for 2025, further into the future.

But despite not completing the countdown as planned, NASA officials said they considered the exercise a success as they had reached most of their objectives and collected tons of data to review.

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Thomas Whitmeyer compared the rehearsal to putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

"We got an awful lot of the pieces put together," he said during a teleconference with reporters Tuesday. "And we have a pretty good idea what the puzzle looks like."

Whitmeyer said officials will have a better idea if an August launch was still viable in a few days after reviewing the data from the rehearsal.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket sits on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, June 7, 2022.  The vehicle underwent some pre-launch testing but failed to fully complete the "wet dress rehearsal." Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
NASA's Space Launch System rocket sits on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, June 7, 2022. The vehicle underwent some pre-launch testing but failed to fully complete the "wet dress rehearsal." Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK

Teams at Kennedy Space Center began the exercise Saturday evening with the goal of going through all the pre-launch checklists — including fueling the rocket's tanks — and counting down to nearly T-0 as if it were launch day for the rocket's uncrewed trip around the moon.

They made it to T-10 minutes before a leaky hydrogen valve forced officials to end the rehearsal early.

"There is the possibility of another WDR out there," said NASA spokesman Derrol Nail, during a NASA broadcast of the countdown, though NASA officials Tuesday said they had not made a decision on whether or not to repeat th exercise.

By the way: NASA requests $26 billion in federal funding for 2023, focuses heavily on Artemis

And: NASA projects over budget and behind schedule, according to GAO report

Despite not completing the exercise as planned, launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson put a positive spin on the results.

"It's a great day for our team. And, you know, really proud of them working through the loading operations and loading and working through terminal count," she said as teams were de-fueling the rocket. "So definitely a good day for us and a very exciting day as well."

Launch teams made it further into the countdown this time compared with the earlier glitch-infected test runs.

As hundreds of thousands of gallons of super-chilled liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen were pumping into the SLS's tanks, sensors indicated a leak in a hydrogen quick-release valve.

Technicians tried warming up and then re-cooling the valve hoping it would reseat the valve's seals. It did not.

Fueling continued while the launch crew tried to find a way to seal the leak, with the countdown eventually holding at T-10 minutes and the rocket fully fueled.

After holding for about two hours, the mission management team — in an effort to capture as much data as possible from the test — agreed to allow the countdown to continue as if all systems were go. They had hoped to make it down to T-9 seconds, the original target of the test. But the rocket's onboard computers stopped the countdown  at T-29 seconds because of the hydrogen leak.

The delay raises questions as to whether Artemis I, the uncrewed test flight, will launch in August. Future Artemis flights, including the first human mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could also be delayed.

The Artemis I mission is expected to demonstrate the SLS's capability to slingshot the uncrewed Orion capsule around the moon and back.

If successful, it would set up NASA's Artemis II mission, which would return humans to lunar orbit for the first time since 1972.

The agency's Artemis III mission, which would return humans all the way to the lunar surface is slated to launch no earlier than 2025.

This was NASA's fourth attempt at a wet dress rehearsal for the massive moon rocket.

The agency first rolled the rocket out to LC-39B back in March. But after three problem-plagued attempts to fill its core stage, NASA rolled it back to the Vehicle Assembly building for more work.

During the SLS's month-long stay in its 526-foot-tall garage, ground support equipment at Kennedy Space Center was upgraded, a valve on the rocket itself was replaced, and propellant leak checks were performed.

Additionally, upgrades to the ground support equipment of an off-site supplier of the critical liquid propellants we’re aimed at mitigating an issue that twice caused previous attempts of the "wet dress rehearsal" to be scrubbed.

Upon inspection of a valve on the SLS, a minor piece of rubber debris was found and determined to be the cause of the incomplete closure of the valve. The valve was removed and replaced with a brand new one which was then tested prior to roll out.

Teams also addressed a small leak source with connections between the rocket and its Mobile Launcher platform. Bolts and joints at the connection points that can become loose over time were all retightened. Pre-roll testing conducted while inside the VAB detected no further leaks.

The first SLS launch was originally planned for 2017, but the program has been beset with delays and cost overruns. The Orion spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to the moon atop SLS is also behind schedule and over budget.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by subscribing to FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA fails to complete fourth test of massive SLS moon rocket