Author Topic: NASA works to track down source of hydrogen leak from SLS countdown test (Read 406 times)

Elderberry · « **on:** April 17, 2022, 12:08:46 am »

Space News by Jeff Foust — April 16, 2022

WASHINGTON — NASA says it could attempt another countdown rehearsal of the Space Launch System as soon as April 21 depending on how quickly they can fix a hydrogen leak that stopped the previous test.

At an April 15 briefing, SLS managers said they were beginning work to track down the source of the leak detected shortly after starting to load liquid hydrogen into the rocket’s core stage during the April 14 attempt. It was the first time that controllers had reached that stage of the countdown after technical problems halted two previous attempts before liquid hydrogen could start loading.

The leak is on the ground side of an umbilical plate on the mobile launcher’s tail service mast, and not on the SLS itself. “The good news is that there’s only a few things in that purge enclosure and there’s a couple of discrete penetrations that could be the culprit,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director.

More: https://spacenews.com/nasa-works-to-track-down-source-of-hydrogen-leak-from-sls-countdown-test/

rustynail · « **Reply #1 on:** April 17, 2022, 12:21:10 am »

Light a match.

Elderberry · « **Reply #2 on:** April 17, 2022, 11:36:54 am »

NASA to roll back SLS for repairs

https://spacenews.com/nasa-works-to-track-down-source-of-hydrogen-leak-from-sls-countdown-test/

Quote

WASHINGTON — NASA announced late April 16 it will roll back the Space Launch System from the launch pad for various repairs, further delaying the rocket’s long-anticipated first launch.

In a statement late April 16, NASA announced it planned to roll back the SLS to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) “due to upgrades required at an off-site supplier of gaseous nitrogen used for the test,” the agency said. Problems with the supply of gaseous nitrogen, used to support activities at the pad, had delayed two previous countdown rehearsals.

NASA did not state when the vehicle would go back from Launch Complex 39B, where it rolled out March 17, to the VAB. The agency said it will hold a briefing April 18 about its plans. The agency added it would use the time in the VAB to repair a faulty helium check valve in the SLS’s upper stage and a hydrogen leak detected shortly after starting to load liquid hydrogen into the rocket’s core stage during the April 14 attempt. It was the first time that controllers had reached that stage of the countdown after technical problems halted two previous attempts before liquid hydrogen could start loading.

The leak is on the ground side of an umbilical plate on the mobile launcher’s tail service mast, and not on the SLS itself. “The good news is that there’s only a few things in that purge enclosure and there’s a couple of discrete penetrations that could be the culprit,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director, during an April 15 briefing.