Engineers Discover Liquid Hydrogen Leak During Artemis I Wet Dress Rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center
By Space Coast Daily // April 15, 2022
Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration
During today’s “wet dress rehearsal” activities for #Artemis I, @NASAKennedy engineers noticed a leak on the base of the mobile launcher.
The terminal countdown will not occur today and teams are assessing next steps. Follow @NASAGroundSys for updates: https://t.co/1rsNQPAfjl pic.twitter.com/6WLrw5BG4V
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 14, 2022
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Teams concluded wet dress rehearsal test at approximately 5:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday after observing a liquid hydrogen (LH2) leak on the tail service mast umbilical, located at the base of the mobile launcher and connects to the rocket’s core stage.
The leak was discovered during liquid hydrogen loading operations and prevented the team from completing the test.
Before ending the test, teams also met test objectives for the interim cryogenic propulsion stage by chilling down the lines used to load propellant into the upper stage.
They did not flow any propellant to the stage because of an issue with a helium check valve identified several days ago.
When teams paused propellant loading, the rocket’s core stage liquid oxygen tank was about 49% filled and the liquid hydrogen tank had been loaded to about 5% capacity prior to the hydrogen leak.
Teams are now working to drain propellant from the rocket. They will inspect the umbilical connection, review data, and establish a go-forward plan to address the hydrogen leak.
