NASA Completes Critical Fueling Test for Artemis Moon Mission Rocket

Kathmandu. The US space agency NASA successfully completed the final and crucial test of fueling its new rocket on Monday in preparation for sending astronauts toward the Moon. The success of this test will determine the launch date for the astronauts under the Artemis program.

At the Kennedy Space Center, a practice of the actual launch procedure was conducted by filling the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with super-chilled hydrogen and oxygen fuel. NASA stated that approximately 2.6 million liters of fuel were loaded into the tanks and kept there for several hours.

Although no crew participated in this exercise, four astronauts—three Americans and one Canadian—monitored the entire process from Houston. They are currently in quarantine.

NASA stated that if the test is successful, the astronaut crew could be sent toward the Moon this week. In this mission, which is expected to last about 10 days, the astronauts will orbit the Moon and return to Earth. They will not be landing on the Moon.

Through the Artemis program, NASA aims to lay the foundation for future long-term lunar missions.