Did you see Sunday night’s brilliant and beautiful full snow moon?

It provided the perfect backdrop to the Artemis II moon mission rocket, perched atop frigid Launch Pad 39B, as NASA personnel continued their “wet dress rehearsal countdown,” which began Jan. 31 at 8:13 p.m.

The frigid weather in Florida this past weekend caused a change in schedule for this important evolution.

Scheduled for 9 p.m. Monday until 1 a.m. Tuesday — with the fueling of the giant Space Launch System rocket with 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen complete — that’s when the test countdown would begin.

NASA had to pause the liquid hydrogen fueling operation due to a leak at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical. Troubleshooting the issue was successful and as of 5 p.m. Engineers continue to watch the liquid hydrogen concentration in the umbilical, which remains within acceptable limits.

The tanks will then be emptied and the task begins of reviewing how this almost 49-hour wet dress rehearsal went. Analysis of all the data will result in NASA officials deciding on the establishment of a launch window. The earliest Artemis II could launch is Feb. 8 and the latest is Feb. 11. If the launch does not occur, another launch window begins March 6 to 11.

The rehearsal countdown will continue until 33 seconds before the ignition of the two solid rocket boosters and the four RS-25 main engines occurs, signaling the real launch countdown.

You can see a livestream of Launch Pad 39B and NASA “will provide a separate feed during tanking activities, as well as real-time blog post updates regarding the test during the fueling day.”

A 24/7 live stream of the rocket at the pad remains online, as well as a separate feed to capture wet dress activities.

I will be following the progress of Artemis II and WTOP will provide updates as they become available.

LIGHT. THAT. CANDLE!

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