NASA will hold a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 5, to discuss the status of the nextย wet dress rehearsal testย of the agencyโ€™s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at the agencyโ€™s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The teleconference will stream live on the agencyโ€™sย website.

The agency plans to conduct another attempt of the wet dress rehearsal in early June to demonstrate the ability to load propellant into the tanks and conduct a full launch countdown ahead of the Artemis I launch this summer.

Teleconference participants include:

  • Jim Free, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
  • Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, NASA 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:ย ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.ย ย 

NASAโ€™s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft arrived back at Kennedyโ€™s Vehicle Assembly Building April 26 after a 10-hour journey from launch pad 39B. Since their arrival, teams have worked to replace a faultyย upper stage check valveย and repair aย small leakย within the tail service mast umbilical ground plate housing. The teams also have been performing additional checkouts while the spaceportโ€™s supplier of gaseous nitrogen makes upgrades to their pipeline configuration to support Artemis I activities.

Throughย Artemisย 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 NASAโ€™s Artemis blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis