NASA ‘s lunar rocket test did not go Saturday as expected | Location

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A huge cloud of smoke or mist pouring from a multi-story test center.

See more. | The main stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket can be seen in Test Center B-2 during a January 16, 2021 hot fire test, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near St. Louis Bay. Louis, Mississippi. Image through NASA.

A planned eight-minute test firing of the four engines of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) – a more powerful megarocket than the Saturn V that guided Apollo astronauts to the moon – did not go as planned Saturday, January 16, 2021 The experiment was performed at NASA ‘s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The rocket is the one that is expected to launch the next and first female when they return to the moon by 2024 in NASA’s Artemis program. The four engines were due to upgrade the platform for the eight minutes they had to fire at launch. Instead, the engines burned for just about a minute.

NASA said in a statement:

The crew managed to count them down and lit the engines, but the engines closed just over one minute into the hot fire. Teams evaluate the data to determine what caused the early closure, and decide on a way forward.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who attended the experiment, said:

Saturday ‘s test was an important step forward in ensuring that the SLS rocket base stage is ready for the Artemis 1 mission [an uncrewed test mission whose launch had been planned for later this year], and to carry crew on future missions. Although the engines did not burn all the time, the team did so through the count, lit the engines, and obtained valuable data to guide our way forward.

Read more from NASA about the details of NASA ‘s January 16 megarocket SLS test

The January 16 test – known as the hot fire test – was to result in a series of tests for an SLS megarocket. Originally scheduled to run early to mid-November 2020, this final test was needed to keep its schedule on track for the first time the Rocket launched Artemis 1 without release. in mid to late 2021 and, eventually, to the final team. launch to the moon in 2024.

Although the SLS test series began with a successful model test – a type of vibration test – conducted in January 2020, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic delayed the testing process. Work at the Stennis site was halted by NASA leadership in March 2020, around the same time that many in the U.S. began working from home, due to a coronavirus outbreak. The base began to open slowly in mid-May, and the second SLS test was completed on the main stage (the rocket’s orange “body”) at the end of June.

That test ensured that the software and other electrical interface involved in the rocket and the test stand were working properly.

Four rocket engines firing.

See more. | In the January 16, 2021 test, the 4-RS-25 engines fired for just over a minute and generated 1.6 million pounds of effort. Image through NASA.

The rocket has gone through and passed the four stages known as the “green run” sequence:

– Test 3, in which engineers inspected all safety systems that shut down jobs during testing. During this test, they simulated potential problems.

– Test 4, the first test of each of the main components of a moving system that connects to the engines. Control and control work was performed, and the baseline was checked for leaks in water or gas.

– Test 5, in which engineers ensured that the vector thrust control system can move all four engines and inspect the associated irrigation systems.

– Test 6, which was similar to counting down, introducing step-by-step fuel methods. Basic level avionics was empowered, and mobile motion and motion were shifted. The test team used and tested the countdown timeline and the sequence of events.

Close-up of single engine firing.

The hot fire is the final test of the Green Run test series, a complete evaluation of the main stage of the Space Launch System before the Artemis I mission was launched to the moon. Image through NASA.

Following a Jan. 16 hot fire test, engineers had redesigned the main stage and prepared for its trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where more tests are still pending level.

Now – with Biden ‘s administration taking office on January 20, 2021, and with January 16’ s test failure – the enrollment of the Artemis program is uncertain.

Read more: How will the U.S. space program under President Joe Biden cost?

Chart with text and diagram with labels of SLS rocket sections.

This graphic shows what the 8 parts of the green run are going to test, as well as the individual parts of the SLS Main Stage (orange rocket body). Image through NASA.

Bottom line: The failure of NASA’s SLS megarocket hot fire test on January 16, 2021 is a clear solution for NASA’s Artemis program. The first release in the program – a fragmented mission called Artemis 1 was launched in late 2021. The program was intended to carry the first and first woman back to the moon by 2024. that goal does not seem to be the case now.

Through NASA

Lia Rovira

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