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NASA sets June date for Artemis moon rocket wet dress rehearsal

Agency targeting June 18 for the test

The 322-foot-tall rocket with two heavy rocket boosters weighs in at 18 million pounds and is for NASA’s Artemis I mission, the first SLS uncrewed launch around the moon. (Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA is planning to try another wet dress rehearsal for its next-generation moon rocket next weekend, the space agency announced Friday.

The space agency is slated to begin the dress rehearsal for the Artemis SLS rocket June 18 at Kennedy Space Center. The tanking operations are scheduled two days later on June 20.

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This comes after NASA attempted a wet dress rehearsal in April, which was stopped due to a hydrogen leak discovered while loading fuel into the Artemis rocket.

During the test, launch teams will rehearse operations the same way they would with a typical launch, loading propellant into the rocket’s tanks, conducting a full launch countdown, demonstrating the ability to recycle the countdown clock and draining the tanks, according to space officials.

The wet dress rehearsal is a crucial step before launching the rocket on its maiden voyage.

NASA will provide live coverage of the test on June 18 and provide briefings leading up to and following the test.