NASA this week performed a fifth wet dress rehearsal (WDR) with its massive Space Launch System (SLS) ahead of its greatly anticipated maiden flight. The purpose of WDR is to simulate launch day operations through the countdown all the way to T-9 seconds to verify fueling procedures, ground and vehicle communications, and various actuators and sensors. The first several attempts at WDR earlier this year revealed several leaks at connections and valves used for loading propellant. There were a few minor issues remaining at the end of this week’s WDR but mission managers have determined these can be fixed with relative ease and no further WDR is required before launching an uncrewed flight around the moon later this year. This is a major milestone in the development of the largest rocket NASA has ever built.

From big to small, next week, Rocket Lab will be launching NASA’s CAPSTONE mission, which stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment. The primary payload is a “cubesat”, a 55 pound mini refrigerator-sized satellite that will evaluate the trajectory and orbit for future missions under NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the moon, and as a staging area for missions to Mars.