NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is almost finished with upgrades to mobile launcher 1 and launch pad 39B for the first major set of integrated ground system tests for Artemis II, the first crewed mission under Artemis. The elevators on the mobile launcher were repaired, and teams are evaluating ways to harden the elevators and strengthen blast doors ahead of Artemis II. The platform’s blast plates surrounding the mobile launcher’s flame hole are being refurbished to protect it against the powerful exhaust plume from the rocket’s engines. The panels on the flame deflector at the pad are being modified to account for turbulent exhaust flows observed after the first Space Launch System launch. Workers will conduct swing tests of the crew access arm this summer to ensure it and supporting mobile launcher systems are certified to support crewed missions. Another major upgrade to the mobile launcher ahead of Artemis II is the addition of the emergency egress life safety system. The system provides astronauts and close-out crews the ability to safely exit the mobile launcher or Orion in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch countdown. The emergency egress system terminus area at pad 39B, where the baskets carrying the astronauts or other personnel will arrive following their safe exit from the mobile launcher in an emergency, is also nearly complete. Other upgrades to pad 39B include completing construction of an additional 1.4-million-gallon liquid hydrogen sphere used for propellant loading and completing the environmental control system at the pad, which provides air supply, thermal control, and pressurization to SLS and Orion. After the mobile launcher arrives at the launch pad, ground systems teams at Kennedy and the Artemis II crew will conduct a day of launch dry run, including operations for the crew, closeout crew, and the pad rescue team.
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