NASA is considering a second firing of its Moon rocket engines after an emergency test surfaced shortly over the weekend, a move that could mark the first flight in a lunar landing program Artemis into next year.
The space agency had been aiming to launch their new Space Launch System, or SLS, an empty Orion rocket and capsule before the end of this year, with the capsule flying to and from the Moon as introduction to crew missions. But that date could be in jeopardy after Saturday’s banned trial.
“We have a vision to fly it this year, but we have to get through this next step,” said Kathy Lueders, head of NASA’s human space light office.
The four engines fired for just a minute, instead of the planned eight minutes, at the test center at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The countdown count for the 212-foot (65-meter) platform – made by Boeing – included the hydrogen and oxygen tanks, as well as the necessary computers and electronics.
On Tuesday, NASA overcame the automatic shutdown to the tight test limits that meant protecting the main stage so that it could be used on the first Artemis flight. The irrigation system for one engine exceeded safety parameters, officials said, and flight computers shut everything down 67 seconds into the ignition.
There were two other engine related incidents.
NASA said it can change the test limits if a second test is deemed necessary, to prevent another premature shutdown. Engineers will continue to analyze the data, while managers discuss the pros and cons of proceeding with a second test firing at Stennis or the rocket was delivered directly to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparation. Some of that Canadian work could be tidied up, Lueders said.
This basic level can be loaded with super-cold fuel for more than nine hours, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters Tuesday night. A second full-test firing would reduce the number of fillings left.
The Artemis program is working to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2024, a date set by the Trump administration. Not sure how the incoming White House will go near that timeline.
In their annual report Tuesday, the Aereospace Safety Advisory Panel urged NASA to develop a reasonable schedule for their Artemis Moon program and questioned the 2024 date for the return of astronauts to the lunar surface.
On the eve of his departure from NASA, Bridenstine, a Republican caller from Oklahoma, stressed that major programs like Artemis must span several administrations, decades and even generations. It is crucial, he said, “there is support and assistance from all of America and members of Congress on both sides of the corridor.”
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