NASA Wet Dress Rehearsal: How To Watch The SLS Test (And Why It's Important)
NASA's currently conducting a wet dress rehearsal for its bleeding-edge rocket that'll take astronauts back to the Moon — and you can watch it live right now as it happens. At the time of publication, humans haven't set foot on the Moon for nearly 50 years. The last crewed mission to the lunar surface was back in December 1972, and since then, no one has returned. NASA's kept itself plenty busy with other space-bound missions, but a trip back to the Moon hasn't been one of them.
But that's all set to change thanks to the upcoming Artemis program. Not only will Artemis see humans going back to the Moon, but it'll also have missions to land the first woman and person of color on our lunar neighbor. At the heart of making Artemis possible is NASA's all-new Space Launch System rocket (better known as the SLS). The SLS is the rocket that'll carry NASA's Orion spacecraft — the one which a human crew will eventually use to land on the Moon — out of Earth's atmosphere and into space.
Following the SLS's upcoming launch this summer, NASA is currently conducting a 'wet dress rehearsal' for the rocket. The name of the test is one that's piqued a lot of people's interest — though it's ultimately a pretty mundane event. The wet dress rehearsal for the SLS sees NASA running the rocket system through all of the pre-launch procedures it needs to complete before liftoff. This includes powering on the Orion spacecraft, filling water tanks, moving flame deflectors into position, etc. If you want to watch the wet dress rehearsal for yourself, NASA's livestreaming the entire thing in the video below.
NASA began the wet dress rehearsal at 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, April 1. And the test was going smoothly — up until NASA paused the rehearsal around noon on April 3 due to pressure issues with the platform that supports the SLS before it launches. A few hours later, NASA resumed the wet dress rehearsal at 10:52 AM EDT on April 4, with around 6 hours of the test remaining. Assuming there are no further delays, the wet dress rehearsal should conclude at 6:02 PM.
The big goal for today is to fully tank the Space Launch System. This includes chilling the liquid oxygen lines, filling the rocket with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, and performing leak checks to ensure everything's holding tight. A total of 700,000 pounds of fuel will be loaded when all is said and done — giving the SLS the necessary energy to escape Earth, enter space, and help the Orion spacecraft reach the Moon.
All of this is happening so NASA can execute its Artemis 1 mission this summer. The goal of Artemis 1 is to launch the SLS (uncrewed), have it carry the Orion spacecraft around the Moon, and safely return it to Earth. Assuming everything goes according to plan, Artemis 2 will launch as the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon in May 2024. While NASA's wet dress rehearsal may not be the most exciting thing to watch, nothing else can happen until it's complete. For that reason alone, it's pretty darn important.