(Updated) NASA set to begin crucial test for Artemis I moon mission today

NASA is all set to begin today a two-day wet dress rehearsal for the Artemis I Moon rocket - Space Launch System (SLS) - and the Orion spacecraft. The test will begin at approximately 5 p.m. EDT tonight, June 18, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During the test, the launch teams will rehearse operations to load propellant into the rocket's tanks, conduct a full launch countdown, demonstrate the ability to recycle the countdown clock and drain the tanks to give them an opportunity to practice the timelines and procedures they will use for launch.

Teams at @NASAKennedy are on track for the approximately two-day wet dress rehearsal for #Artemis I mission! 🚀The test will begin with "call to stations" at approximately 5 p.m. EDT tonight, June 18. Learn more HERE: https://t.co/ZXSUcdhSYn pic.twitter.com/hnhmxX2E8L

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) June 18, 2022

SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA and it is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission. This is the final test for the high-performance rocket and the next-generation spacecraft before they launch to the Moon.

Artemis I, the first integrated flight of SLS and Orion, will demonstrate the performance of the rocket, spacecraft and Exploration Ground Systems prior to a crewed flight. During this flight test, Orion will venture thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission, collect data and allow mission controllers to assess its performance.

During the second flight, Artemis II, Orion will carry astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, and help set the stage for future lunar landing missions through Artemis.

NASA plans to explore regions of the Moon never visited before via a series of increasingly complex missions.

Update 1

According to NASA, overnight, engineers powered up the Orion and the SLS's core stage. Teams also configured several systems on the ground, rocket, and spacecraft and performed activities to prepare umbilicals that connect the rocket and spacecraft to the mobile launcher and are used to provide power, communications, coolant, and propellant.