Final preparations are in work to ready the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage flight article for its first-ever propellant loading in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Southern Mississippi. Prime contractor Boeing is leading the Green Run test campaign for the central component of the space agency’s new launch vehicle as the test team approaches the critical Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) now tentatively targeted for early November.
The WDR is the seventh of eight Green Run test cases and the precursor to a full-duration Hot-Fire test of the stage once the tanking test is completed. Final closeouts of the stage to configure it for its first live countdown will take up much of the remaining time before the full Green Run team meets for a Test Readiness Review (TRR); the meeting is planned two days before the test to verify that the vehicle, the test stand, and the test team are ready to proceed.
In the WDR, the Core Stage will be prepared for ignition exactly as it will for the Hot-Fire and for a launch, activating all its systems to run together and meet all their firing criteria before the countdown is stopped several seconds before engine start.