NASA teams finish SLS countdown test, moving closer to rocket rollout

Seth Kurkowski | Jan 25 2022 - 12:10 pm PT

Preparations are underway to lift the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, and placed on top of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 20, 2021. The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration.

We are inching closer and closer to the long-awaited launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Engineers just completed another milestone test working towards seeing SLS roll out from the VAB for the first time.

NASA engineers finish second countdown test

Inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building, engineers conducted the second countdown test of the SLS rocket. This test checked to make sure ground software and what is known as the sequencer performed as intended.

A launch sequencer is a software program that controls the launch countdown. While humans are in the loop, the sequencer is checking to make sure everything is starting on time and performing smoothly. If something is not acting as intended, it can hold the countdown or even abort it automatically.

The sequencer would take over complete control at T-30 seconds during an actual countdown. This test concluded before that point.

Another milestone test before rollout

The countdown test was a key milestone for the SLS rocket and ground control teams before moving forward with rolling the massive rocket out of the VAB. While some more tests are still needed, the next major step will be to roll the SLS out to LC-39B on top of the historic Crawler transporter.

The journey will be slow, but it will be the first time we will see the SLS rocket on a launchpad outside of any renders. Once out at the launch site, NASA will conduct a wet dress rehearsal and then roll the rocket back to the VAB for final checkouts before the Artemis I mission launch.

NASA hoped to have already finished the wet dress rehearsal, but an issue with an engine controller delayed the timeline. An Artemis I launch is still planned for the first quarter of 2022, but I would expect that to be delayed into the summer months, following the chain of previous timeline slips.

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