NASA, Canadian Space Agency Formalize Gateway Partnership for Artemis Program

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) finalized an agreement between the United States and Canada to collaborate on the Gateway, an outpost orbiting the Moon that will provide vital support for a sustainable, long-term return of astronauts to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Artemis program. This Gateway agreement further solidifies the broad effort by the United States to engage international partners in sustainable lunar exploration as part of the Artemis program and to demonstrate technologies needed for human missions to Mars.

Under this agreement, CSA will provide the Gateway’s external robotics system, including a next-generation robotic arm, known as Canadarm3. CSA also will provide robotic interfaces for Gateway modules, which will enable payload installation including that of the first two scientific instruments aboard the Gateway. The agreement also marks NASA’s commitment to provide two crew opportunities for Canadian astronauts on Artemis missions, one to the Gateway and one on Artemis II.

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NASA Administrator Signs Statement of Intent with Brazil on Artemis Cooperation

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the Government of Brazil Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) Marcos Pontes signed a joint statement of intent during a virtual meeting on Dec. 14, 2020. The statement describes Brazil’s intention to be the first country in South America to sign the Artemis Accords. Brazil has expressed interest in potentially contributing a robotic lunar rover – in addition to conducting lunar science experiments and other investigations – as part of NASA’s Artemis program.

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Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal Update

NASA is proceeding with Green Run testing of the Artemis I core stage at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After refining the procedures for test operations, NASA is planning to conduct a full wet dress rehearsal next week.

On Dec. 5, engineers powered up the stage to start wet dress rehearsal testing and successfully conducted an initial propellant loading on Dec. 7. This partial loading showed the stage performed well and has given the NASA and Boeing team a valuable opportunity to practice loading procedures and monitor the Artemis I core stage as it is exposed to cryogenic, or supercold, liquids for the first time. While performing operations to load liquid oxygen propellant earlier in the day, data showed the temperature of the propellant was warmer than planned, and the NASA and Boeing team paused the test to take a closer look at the data before committing to loading all 700,000 gallons of propellant. The team proceeded with loading a limited amount of liquid hydrogen, cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, without any issues.

After an integrated assessment of the core stage and the facility, the team identified processes and equipment that could be modified to keep the liquid oxygen at the proper temperature during delivery to the stage. The team is now implementing these changes while Stennis personnel replenish propellants and other commodities needed to run the full wet dress rehearsal.

The wet dress rehearsal is the seventh of eight Green Run tests and the last before the hot fire test of the entire stage. The purpose of the wet dress rehearsal is to complete propellant loading operations and thoroughly check out the core stage’s complex systems as they are exposed to cryogenic propellant for the first time. Following wet dress rehearsal, the team will analyze the data and set a date for the hot fire test

Tune in to nasa.gov/live at 12 p.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 10 to for more details on the upcoming test in the Green Run testing series for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage that will fly on the agency’s Artemis I mission.

Check back at this blog for the date of the full wet dress rehearsal and other updates on Green Run testing.

NASA Names Artemis Team of Astronauts Eligible for Early Moon Missions

NASA has selected 18 astronauts from its corps to form the Artemis Team and help pave the way for the next astronaut missions on and around the Moon as part of the Artemis program.

Vice President Mike Pence introduced the members of the Artemis Team Wednesday during the eighth National Space Council meeting at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“I give you the heroes who will carry us to the Moon and beyond – the Artemis Generation,” said Vice President Mike Pence. “It is amazing to think that the next man and first woman on the Moon are among the names that we just read. The Artemis Team astronauts are the future of American space exploration – and that future is bright.”

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Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal Update

NASA successfully powered up the core stage at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on Dec. 5 and started the process to load propellant for the first time into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage Dec. 7. To complete this wet dress rehearsal exercise, cryogenic propellants are transferred from facility barge systems to the core stage. To test propellant loading procedures, engineers successfully loaded a small amount of liquid hydrogen into the core stage without any issues. Then, they paused propellant loading to review data and adjust procedures before loading additional propellant.

Operations are continuing, and the team will refine the procedures and resume the wet dress rehearsal test in the coming days. The core stage performed well, and there are no issues with the stage, the B-2 test stand, or other facilities at Stennis.

The purpose of the test is to complete first-time operations using the new facilities and new rocket stage and adjust processes as necessary. The wet dress rehearsal is the seventh of eight Green Run tests being performed on the Artemis I core stage. Check back at this blog for more updates.

NASA ‘Go’ for Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal

In a test readiness review on Friday, Dec. 4, NASA gave the “go” to start the next Green Run test, wet dress rehearsal, for NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket core stage. The wet dress rehearsal is the first time the stage will be fully loaded with propellants and is planned to last approximately 48 hours. The test will begin on Saturday, Dec. 5 by powering up the core stage avionics, and engineers plan to load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic, or supercooled, propellant on Monday, Dec. 7.

This is the seventh of eight Green Run tests for the Artemis I core stage built by Boeing and the four RS-25 engines manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne. For this test, the team will focus on the core stage’s first exposure to cryogenic propellants. Six barges filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen are supplying the propellant to the B-2 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where the Green Run tests are taking place.

Engineers will monitor the core stage’s giant propellant tanks and complex propulsion systems for potential leaks or other issues that stages have historically experienced the first time cryogenic propellants are loaded. To prepare for Artemis launches, engineers also will put the stage through scenarios it might experience on the pad before lift-off. They plan to conduct two different holds in the countdown timeline while the stage is in a launch-ready state. This provides an opportunity to observe how the stage would respond if the countdown was paused during the upcoming hot fire test or a future Artemis launch. At the end of the test, all the propellant will be drained following similar procedures that would be used during a launch scrub on the pad. After draining the tanks, the team will review the test data before proceeding with plans for the hot fire test.

Check back at this blog for progress on the SLS core stage wet dress rehearsal. Learn more about Green Run here.

SLS Rocket Core Stages Taking Shape for Artemis II and III

Technicians are simultaneously manufacturing NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) core stages for the Artemis II and Artemis III lunar missions at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The core stage for the deep space rocket consists of two huge propellant tanks, four RS-25 engines, and miles of cabling for the avionics systems and flight computers. All the main core stage structures for Artemis II, the first mission with astronauts, have been built and are being outfitted with electronics, feedlines, propulsion systems, and other components. Engineers are welding the core stage structures for the Artemis III mission, which will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface, through a process called friction stir welding. The manufacturing progress for Artemis II and III comes as the first core stage for the SLS rocket undergoes Green Run testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

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Update on Orion Final Assembly and Transfer

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission is completing final assembly at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers recently installed the three spacecraft jettison fairing panels to protect the European Service Module and the forward bay cover, which protects the upper part of Orion including its parachutes throughout its mission. While powering up the spacecraft to prepare for the pressurization of the crew module uprighting system, which ensures the capsule is oriented upward after splashdown, engineers identified an issue with a redundant channel in a power and data unit (PDU) on Orion’s crew module adapter. The team is continuing with other closeout activities while troubleshooting the issue, including installation of temporary covers to ensure components are protected during ground processing and fit checks for bonded tile on the crew module side hatch. Following a resolution of the issue, NASA will transfer Orion from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility where the spacecraft will undergo fueling ahead of stacking with the launch abort system. Check back at this blog for an update and adjusted dates for Orion’s transfer.

Orion Test Article Ready to Make Another Splash for Artemis

The Orion spacecraft Structural Test Article (STA) completed its cross-country road trip Tuesday to NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia in preparation for a series of water impact tests at the center’s Landing and Impact Research Facility.

Data from the upcoming drop tests in 2021 will be used for final computer modeling for loads and structures prior to the Artemis II flight test, NASA’s first mission with crew. Artemis II will carry astronauts around the Moon and back, and will pave the way to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface during Artemis III.

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