As part of continued troubleshooting and seal replacement validation efforts, teams at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida took the SLS rocket through a Core Stage and Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS) fueling test on Wednesday, Sept. 21. NASA officials hoped the test would reveal no leaks of the liquid hydrogen (LH2) system, which has so far plagued the agency in all fueling operations where the commodity was loaded onto SLS at the pad.<\/p>\n
That did not pan out, but the test was completed successfully.<\/p>\n
With the fueling test complete, should the Eastern Range subsequently approve a waiver for the rocket\u2019s Flight Termination System batteries, NASA might be able to attempt a launch of SLS on the Artemis I mission as soon as Sept. 27.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
UPDATE<\/p>\n
While the initial \u201ckinder, gentler\u201d fueling process seemed to work during LH2 chilldown and slow fill operations, a leak in the same spot at the same time with the same leak rate indication was observed in the eight-inch quick disconnect seal that malfunctioned on the Sept. 3 launch attempt.<\/p>\n
Teams stopped that leak, with concentrations dropping to 0.5% ambient concentration and peaking back to only 3.4% during engine bleed kick start instead of seven percent as originally observed earlier.<\/p>\n
From there, fueling operations continued, and teams took SLS through a final pre-pressurization test of the Core Stage LH2 tank. This was completed; however, the four-inch quick disconnect seal for LH2 leaked at five percent maximum concentration.<\/p>\n
SpaceX (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The test was not a firm confirmation that work to stop the LH2 leaks is complete, but might give enough confidence to proceed toward Sept. 27.<\/p>\n \u201cFocus on the seals\u201d<\/p>\n NASA was quick to stress on Sept. 19, before count operations for the fueling test began, that this was only a fueling test that was going to \u201cfocus on the seals,\u201d said Tom Whitmeyer, Deputy Associate Administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n