A problem with a helium valve on the Space Launch System moon rocket’s upper stage will require ground teams to only partially load the giant launcher with cryogenic propellants during an upcoming countdown dress rehearsal, NASA officials said Saturday. NASA also confirmed teams now targeting Thursday for the next try to complete the test.
Less than a day after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, four commercial space fliers arrived Saturday at the International Space Station, becoming the first all-private crew to visit the orbiting research complex. Docking of SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with the station occurred at 8:29 a.m. EDT (1229 GMT).
Four private citizens rode into orbit Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, taking aim on the International Space Station on the first all-commercial mission to visit the research complex. Liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida occurred at 11:17 a.m. EDT (1517 GMT).
NASA officials said Tuesday they are standing down from a cryogenic loading test on the agency’s Space Launch System moon rocket until after the launch of a commercial crew mission from a neighboring pad at the Kennedy Space Center. A countdown test Monday was delayed by what NASA managers characterized as minor issues, including a liquid oxygen temperature concern and a manual valve that was left in the wrong configuration before teams evacuated the SLS launch pad.
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