{"id":469011,"date":"2026-02-14T22:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/469011\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T22:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T22:46:11","slug":"nasa-continues-sls-hydrogen-leak-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/469011\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA continues SLS hydrogen leak tests"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 A NASA test to confirm repairs to seals in the Space Launch System\u2019s liquid hydrogen fueling system was only partially successful because of problems with ground equipment.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> late Feb. 13, NASA said it performed a \u201cconfidence test\u201d the previous day on the SLS core stage fueling system, partially filling the stage\u2019s liquid hydrogen tank to test seals that had been replaced in a fueling interface.<\/p>\n

The seals were the suspected cause of hydrogen leaks during a wet dress rehearsal Feb. 2<\/a>, when the SLS was loaded with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as part of a practice countdown. The leaks forced an early end to the test, and NASA later said it planned to replace two seals in hydrogen lines that transfer fuel into the rocket.<\/p>\n

In its latest statement, NASA said the confidence test, not announced in advance and first reported by Spaceflight Now<\/a>, was intended to evaluate the new seals. However, the agency said that \u201cteams encountered an issue with ground support equipment that reduced the flow of liquid hydrogen into the rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the reduced flow, NASA said it was able to \u201cgain confidence in several key objectives\u201d and collect data at the interface that had been the source of the earlier leak.<\/p>\n

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman mentioned the test, which he described as a \u201cmini wet dress rehearsal,\u201d during coverage of the Crew-12 launch Feb. 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a series of mini wet dress rehearsal tests today to make sure we give that vehicle the highest probability of success to get off the pad in early March,\u201d he said during NASA\u2019s webcast of the launch.<\/p>\n

At a news conference after the launch, Isaacman said program officials wanted to review data from the tests before deciding whether to proceed with a second full wet dress rehearsal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Artemis 1, we were combating hydrogen leaks multiple times,\u201d he said. \u201cWe obviously encountered that again on the Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom some of the early views, we did not see some of the leaks for the portion of the test we were running that at a comparable period during the full Artemis 2 wet dress we did,\u201d he said. He did not mention the reduced flow of liquid hydrogen into the stage, which could affect the ability to fully evaluate the new seals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to do everything available to gain confidence going into the full wet dress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the new statement, NASA said it plans to inspect the ground support equipment and replace a filter believed to have caused the reduced hydrogen flow.<\/p>\n

The agency has not announced a date for a second wet dress rehearsal, but Isaacman said there was still time to conduct one ahead of the next Artemis 2 launch opportunity in early March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of time ahead of us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe could undertake more than one wet dress, if necessary. We\u2019re going to make absolute most use of the time that we have leading up to the start of the window.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 A NASA test to confirm repairs to seals in the Space Launch System\u2019s liquid hydrogen fueling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[504,42142,83692,718,79,16573,722,193],"class_list":{"0":"post-469011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-artemis","9":"tag-artemis-2","10":"tag-jared-isaacman","11":"tag-nasa","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-sls","14":"tag-sn","15":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}