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NASA teams have completed filling the core stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with liquid hydrogen and transitioned to topping mode. Topping ensures the tank reaches its full capacity with super-cold liquid hydrogen chilled to minus 423 degrees…
Editor’s note: This blog post was updated at 4:09 p.m. EST on Feb. 2, 2026, to correct the status of liquid hydrogen operations at the time of posting. Ground teams have resumed loading liquid hydrogen operations into the core stage…
The Expedition 74 crew kicked off the week with SpaceX Dragon spacecraft preparations and science hardware maintenance ensuring research continues providing pristine results aboard the International Space Station.
After teams temporarily resumed fast fill of liquid hydrogen operations into the core stage, initial steps to correct the leak proved unsuccessful. The leak rate at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical continued to exceed the allowable limits.…
Teams have started chilling down the lines used to feed liquid oxygen into the upper stage. Troubleshooting of liquid hydrogen loading into the core stage continues.
Teams have stopped the flow of liquid hydrogen through the tail service mast umbilical interface into the core stage after leak concentrations exceeded allowable limits. Stopping the flow allows engineers to perform troubleshooting procedures that were developed after Artemis I.…
As teams continue to fuel the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, teams began propellant loading operations for the rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), or upper stage. The launch control team is filling the ICPS with liquid hydrogen.…
Teams began chilling down the liquid hydrogen lines for the interim cryogenic propulsion stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. This critical step cools the propellant lines ahead of loading super-cold liquid hydrogen, chilled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, into the SLS’s upper stage…
NASA teams have transitioned to fast fill of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage with super-cold liquid hydrogen, chilled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and liquid oxygen chilled to minus 297 degrees. Fast fill rapidly loads hundreds of thousands of…
Following successful chilldown of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen lines, teams started slowly filling the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage with super-cold liquid hydrogen, chilled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, then with liquid oxygen chilled to minus 297 degrees. This marks the official start of propellant loading for the…
