NASA is preparing to perform another test fire of the Space Launch System rocket in Mississippi Thursday after a previous attempt did not last as long as planned.
The eight-minute hot fire, known as the “green run” test of the SLS core stage is the last step before the hardware can be sent down to Kennedy Space Center to launch the Orion spacecraft on the first flight known as the Artemis-1 mission.
The SLS core stage booster, built by Boeing, contains the liquid hydrogen tank and liquid oxygen tank, along with four RS-25 engines as well as the computers that serve as the “brains” of the rocket.
The core stage was slated to fire its four engines on the test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on Jan. 16 for eight minutes but