Sep 7, 2022

MEDIA ADVISORY M22-128

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.

Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 8, to discuss next steps for the Artemis I mission to launch the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Audio of the call will livestream on NASA’s website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test. It is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

Teleconference participants include:

  • Jim Free, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
  • Mike Bolger, Exploration Ground Systems program manager, Kennedy
  • John Blevins, SLS chief engineer, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the event to: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.  

After standing down on the Sept. 3 launch attempt due to a hydrogen leak, teams have decided to replace the seal on an interface, called the quick disconnect, between the liquid hydrogen fuel feed line on the mobile launcher and the rocket while at the launch pad.

Through Artemis 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 NASA’s Artemis blog at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis

-end-

Last Updated: Sep 8, 2022

Editor: Sean Potter

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