NASA to Provide Updates, Coverage for Final Test Ahead of Moon Mission

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Tuesday, March 29, to discuss the upcoming final major test with the agency’s Mega Moon rocket and spacecraft at the launch pad ahead of the uncrewed Artemis I lunar mission.

The sunrise casts a warm glow around the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 21, 2022. The SLS and Orion atop the mobile launcher were transported to the pad on crawler-transporter 2 for a prelaunch test called a wet dress rehearsal. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The test, known as the wet dress rehearsal, is planned for Friday, April 1, through Sunday, April 3, on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will demonstrate the ability to conduct a full launch countdown at the pad, including loading and draining cryogenic, or supercold, propellants into the Artemis I rocket.

Teleconference participants include:

  • Tom Whitmeyer, associate administrator for common exploration systems development, NASA Headquarters in Washington
  • Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director, NASA Exploration Ground Systems program, NASA Kennedy
  • John Honeycutt, manager, Space Launch System program, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama
  • Howard Hu, manager, Orion program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
  • Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, NASA Headquarters

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the event to: [email protected].

The agency will provide live video of the rocket on the pad, without audio or commentary, beginning at 12 p.m. Friday, April 1, on the Kennedy Newsroom YouTube channel through the duration of the test. Real-time operations updates will be posted on the Artemis blog and social accounts. There are no in-person media activities planned for wet dress rehearsal.

The agency will also host a post-test media teleconference with the participants listed above at 11 a.m. April 4.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

For updates, follow along on NASA’s Artemis blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

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TNC

Rod Washington:  Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He also produces news and documentary video projects. Check out his podcast StoriesThisMoment at https://m3e.d71.myftpupload.com/stm-tncn-podcasts/