Artemis II wet dress rehearsal countdown progresses at Kennedy Space Center

NASA continued the countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal, a fueling test of the Space Launch System rocket, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Early this morning, at approximately L-39 hours and 30 minutes, teams powered up the rocket’s core stage.

Teams monitored all systems throughout the overnight hours amid cold temperatures and high winds. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage was powered up overnight, and Orion has remained powered over the last several days due to the cold conditions in Florida.

The core stage soon will be loaded with more than 700,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen during the tanking phase of the countdown. Tanking will occur over a series of different propellant loading milestones to fill, top off, and replenish the tanks.

Engineers are preparing to charge Orion’s flight batteries and will soon begin core stage battery charge. Later today they will conduct final preparations of the umbilical arms and perform a walkdown at the launch pad.

A 24/7 live stream of the rocket at the pad continues online. NASA will provide a separate feed during tanking activities, as well as real-time blog post updates regarding the test during the fueling day; the outcome of the fueling test will be determined during those tanking activities.

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