Tag: Green Run

NASA and Boeing engineers have powered up the Space Launch System rocket core stage to continue with the seventh test, wet dress rehearsal at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The NASA and Boeing team plan to fully load the stage’s liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks this week. This test demonstrates the ability to load the core stage with cryogenic propellant.

 

Following a partial loading of the tanks earlier this month, the team is now resuming the seventh of the eight tests in the Green Run series being completed with the Artemis I core stage. Upon completion of the wet dress rehearsal, the team will spend a few days analyzing data to determine if NASA is ready to proceed with the final Green Run test: the hot fire when all four engines will ignite simulating the countdown and launch of the Artemis I mission.

 

NASA will set a date for the hot fire after the wet dress rehearsal is complete. For an update at the conclusion of wet dress rehearsal, check back at this blog or visit the Green Run web site: https://www.nasa.gov/artemisprogram/greenrun

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 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.

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.

NASA has conducted an initial assessment of the impact from Hurricane Zeta at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. While storm appraisals are continuing, teams have determined that Stennis did sustain some damage on the center, but the B-2 test stand and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage for Artemis I, currently in the stand, were not damaged. Michoud experienced damage to the outside and roof of buildings, but there is no damage to the SLS rocket or Orion spacecraft hardware being manufactured at the facility.

Widespread power outages in the area have made assessments difficult at both locations, and some buildings are still without power. While no personal injuries have been reported by NASA employees, many team members are also still without power, have experienced damage to personal property, and have not been able to return to work. Despite stopping work for the pandemic, as well as six Gulf Coast storms, and while working under pandemic-imposed restrictions, NASA and contractors Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne continue to make progress on Green Run testing of the SLS core stage at Stennis.

NASA has completed six of the eight core stage Green Run tests and is in the final stage of testing, which will operate the entire stage and its propulsion systems together for the first time. During the pause of on-site work due to the storm, engineers were able to take a closer look at data from recent testing. The team identified one of eight valves, which supply liquid hydrogen to the RS-25 engines, had inconsistent performance during recent tests. The valve is called a prevalve and is part of the core stage main propulsion system. NASA conducts ground testing on the core stage to demonstrate it is ready for flight, and the expert team of problem solvers is prepared to resolve any issues. Engineers have inspected the valve, understand the reason it is not working properly, and plan to repair the valve while the core stage remains in the B-2 test stand. Following a successful repair, the team plans to conduct the Green Run wet dress rehearsal and hot fire testing before the end of the year.

NASA is testing the new core stage on the ground to identify issues before flight, as the agency has done with every new rocket stage ever flown. The Green Run test series is a comprehensive test of the rocket’s core stage before it launches Artemis missions to the Moon. Check back at this blog for an update on completion of the repair and an updated schedule for the final Green Run tests.

NASA is progressing through the Green Run test series for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and has completed six of the eight tests. The team is preparing to stand down for another tropical weather system that is heading to the area. The pause in work comes ahead of the most complex tests: wet dress rehearsal, when propellant will be loaded for the first time, and hot fire, when all four engines will be fired and every system within the stage will operate. During the pause, engineers will continue to assess data from recent tests to ensure the team is ready to proceed to the next phase of testing. Green Run testing is a complex series of tests to methodically and thoroughly check all the rocket’s core stage systems together for the first time to ensure the stage is ready for flight. Check back at this blog for an update on adjusted dates for the Green Run wet dress rehearsal and hot fire tests, after the storm has passed.

Engineers have completed the fifth of eight Green Run tests on the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, continuing progress toward a hot fire test this fall. Operators evaluated the stage’s thrust vector control system on the historic B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Sept. 13. The test provided critical verification of the control system and its related hydraulics as operators moved the stage’s four RS-25 engines as they must move during flight to steer the rocket and maintain a proper trajectory. The stage now is set for two more tests – a simulated countdown demonstration and wet dress rehearsal – directly leading to the hot fire of all four RS-25 engines, as during an actual flight.

In the countdown demonstration, engineers will simulate the launch countdown and procedures to validate the established timeline and sequence of events. In the wet dress rehearsal, engineers will conduct another countdown exercise and actually load, control and drain more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants to ensure all is set for the final test of the Green Run series. The concluding test will activate all stage systems and fire the four RS-25 engines to generate the same combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust that will help launch the SLS rocket when it flies on the Artemis I mission.

Technicians at NASA’s Stennis Space Center have completed the third of eight tests in the Green Run test series for the Space Launch System rocket. Each test is designed to gradually bring the rocket’s core stage — the same hardware that will be used for Artemis I — to life for the first time.

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NASA completed  the second of eight tests in the Green Run test series at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage is installed in the B-2 Test Stand. The avionics power on and checkout test steadily brought the core stage flight avionics hardware, which controls the rocket’s first eight minutes of flight, to life for the first time. The three flight computers and avionics are located in the forward skirt, the top section of the 212-foot tall core stage, with more avionics distributed in the core’s intertank and engine section.

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