WASHINGTON – NASA should be able to set a new date for the launch of Artemis 1 within a few weeks of the Green Run static fire test of the Space Launch System’s core phase, assuming the test goes as expected .
NASA is scheduled to conduct the static fire test March 18 at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi over a two-hour period between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The four RS-25 engines from the nuclear stage will burn for up to eight minutes, although agency officials said last month they will collect all the data they need for their testing goals after four minutes.
This test is a replay of the first Green Run test on January 16, which was halted after 67 seconds when the hydraulic system in one engine reached the “intentionally conservative” limits in its flight software. NASA had scheduled the second test for Feb. 25, but has been postponed these days in advance due to a problem with a nuclear phase “prevalve” supplying liquid oxygen to the engines.
Preparations for the upcoming test are going well, NASA acting administrator Steve Jurczyk said in an interview on March 17. “The team is ready to go,” he said of Stennis. “As long as the weather isn’t really bad, like lightning or high winds, then we should be able to get it tomorrow.”
If the test goes well, he said the agency should soon be able to confirm a launch date for the Artemis 1 mission, which will use the core phase being tested at Stennis. That mission is currently expected to be launched in November. “I think, probably in a few weeks, they will take another look at the schedule and confirm whether we can make it through November of this year or if we need to get out a bit.”
The margin NASA had in its planning for a November launch has largely been used up, he said, due to delays caused by the pandemic and a series of tropical weather systems that passed near Stennis last summer and fall, as well as technical issues during testing. However, he said the program has been working on “ optimizing ” the workflow at the Kennedy Space Center once the core stage arrives there, allowing them to compress the schedule there “ a bit. ”
“I think in a few weeks we’ll know if November is possible or if we have to push it out for maybe a month or two,” he said.
SLS cost reduction study
As NASA prepares for the Green Run test, it begins an investigation into ways to reduce the costs of the SLS program. The internal study, first reported on March 15 by Ars Technica, seeks “efficiencies and cost reduction opportunities” for the various elements of the Artemis program, a bureau said.
“It’s really focused on the transition from development to manufacturing and operations and how we become more efficient with manufacturing and operations,” said Jurczyk, with a particular focus on SLS and Exploration Ground Systems, supporting SLS launches.
In that study, NASA will work with industry to identify requirements that have specific implications for cost and schedule, and potentially shift the roles of government and industry. “The goal is to reduce the cost per launch for SLS,” he said, although the agency has not set a specific cost target.
“There’s nothing off the table right now,” he said. “We just want the team to go out and look at everything that makes sense to look at.” Only later, he said, would the study develop a range of potential cost savings for SLS.
The investigation was not requested by Biden’s new government, Jurczyk said, but was instead rooted in discussions before Jim Bridenstine and Jim Morhard stepped down as clerk and deputy clerk respectively in January. “We’re not counting on very large budget increases, so if we want to have a reasonable cadence of Artemis missions and have the funding to develop the Human Landing System and surface systems, we should try to lower that SLS cost per launch.”
The goal is to have an interim report ready in July or August, which may lead to some extra work on some concepts. “We want to get this done as quickly as possible, but we also want to make sure that the things we decide to implement are really effective and really cut costs,” he said.
Europa Clipper SLS analysis
Another SLS issue recently surfaced related to the agency’s decision not to use the vehicle to launch the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter. Language in the fiscal year 2021 omnibus expense account allowed NASA to use an alternate vehicle for that mission if the SLS vehicle was not available or if “torsional load analysis” showed the spacecraft was not compatible with Clipper.
In a March 15 statement, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), a deputy member of the House Space Subcommittee, that he contacted Jurczyk on February 22 asking for that analysis, but received no response. “I expect a prompt response from NASA who will answer our questions about their launch vehicle analyzes, as well as the implications for cost, schedule and mission,” he said in the statement.
Jurczyk said there was a delay in responding to Babin because part of the analysis contained proprietary information. NASA was working on a version without that proprietary information “and we’ll discuss something with him shortly.”
He said analysis showed that the lateral loads on the spacecraft during launch on SLS were higher than what the spacecraft was designed for. “With the design ready and some hardware already manufactured, it would be a major challenge from a cost and planning perspective to adapt the spacecraft or develop an isolation system to address the lateral loading problem . “
NASA is continuing plans to select a commercial launch vehicle for Europa Clipper and is making a formal request for proposals on March 5. That means that for the foreseeable future, the SLS manifesto will be exclusively launches of Orion spacecraft on Artemis missions.
Jurczyk said NASA is not abandoning the use of SLS for other missions, including the development of a cargo variant. As an example, he cited the ongoing work of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate on how SLS might support future outer planet missions. “We are still continuing to analyze and develop the freight version,” he said.