This weekend, NASA is preparing for the “wet dress rehearsal” that could be decisive for the Moon mission

NASA is starting a very important “wet dress rehearsal” for its mega rocket this weekend.

The US space agency is hoping to fly a rocket around the dark side of the moon in the coming months, and Saturday’s test needs to go well for that to be possible.

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NASA’s giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will be tested on June 18th.

It is the key component of the space agency’s Artemis 1 lunar mission.

Artemis 1 will be launched into space and will test many devices in order to conduct a manned Artemis 2 mission.

This will be Nasa’s second wet dress after the agency was not happy with the results of the first.

Nasa will simulate how it will launch its rocket, including refueling the rocket and a countdown.

However, the dress rehearsal countdown stops at T-10 seconds.

The original test raised concerns about a hydrogen leak.

Jim Free, deputy administrator for exploration systems development at NASA, recently told reporters, “We fixed some things in the area where we saw this [hydrogen] Leak.”

He added, “This is the first step in getting us back to the moon.”

What is Artemis 1?

The first part of the mission to bring humans back to the moon is called Artemis 1 and has already been postponed several times.

Rumors now suggest that Artemis 1 could be launched sometime in August for a mission of up to 42 days around the moon.

The flight will test hardware to enable Nasa to land the first woman and first black person on the moon by 2025.

This manned mission is referred to as Artemis 3 and much has yet to happen before it can take place.

Artemis 1 is not a manned mission, but it must orbit the moon to test three key components.

These are Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion spacecraft and the European Service Module (ESM).

The Orion spacecraft and ESM should come within 62 miles of the lunar surface and then travel 40,000 miles beyond.

Once the rocket has orbited the dark side of the moon, it should land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

Nasa originally hoped for a May launch date, but has decided to conduct more testing before then.

The start date depends on weather conditions and where the moon is in its lunar cycle.