Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida successfully tested the launch control system, the software used to launch the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis Moon missions. The evaluations, which took place in the firing rooms of Kennedy’s Launch Control Center, included testing that software, audio, and imagery displays function well together, as well as practicing a launch pad-abort scenario.
Engineers with Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program divided the test into two parts: teams first ensured the software the Artemis launch team uses can handle multiple inputs at the same time. Following software testing, teams performed a launch countdown simulation starting at T-minus 2 hours and 30 minutes until liftoff, which included testing the “abort switch,” a switch only the launch director and assistant launch director can flip in the event an abort at the launch pad is needed.
This marks the next set of integrated ground systems tests NASA completed to prepare for the Artemis II mission. The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon.
