ksc-20220606-ph-jbs02_0207_medium.jpeg NASA’s Artemis I Moon rocket – carried atop the crawler-transporter 2 – as it approaches Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency will roll SLS and Orion back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy next week to prepare the rocket and spacecraft for launch. Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, June 24, to discuss next steps for the Artemis I mission with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Audio of the call will livestream on NASA’s website.

Teams conducted a wet dress rehearsal Monday, June 20, to validate the timelines and procedures for launch, including loading propellant into the rocket’s tanks, performing the launch countdown through the handover to the automated launch sequencer, and draining the tanks.

NASA has reviewed the data from the rehearsal and determined the testing campaign is complete. The agency will roll SLS and Orion back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy next week to prepare the rocket and spacecraft for launch and repair a leak detected during the most recent rehearsal. NASA plans to return SLS and Orion to the pad for launch in late August. NASA will set a specific target launch date after replacing hardware associated with the leak.

NASA officials will discuss the outcome of the wet dress rehearsal, plans to return the rocket and spacecraft to the VAB, and repair the leak. Teleconference participants include:

• Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development, NASA Headquarters
• Phil Weber, senior technical integration manager, Exploration Ground Systems Program, NASA Kennedy
• John Blevins, chief engineer, Space Launch System Program, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
• Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, Exploration Ground Systems Program, NASA Kennedy

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the event to: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.  

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 to send astronauts to Mars.

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

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis

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Press Contacts

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.a.hambleton@nasa.gov

Tiffany Fairley
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
tiffany.l.fairley@nasa.gov

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