Thread by @WeAreSpaceScout

UPCOMING: NASA is having a press conference after the premature shutdown of the Artemis I #SLS core stage during the final #GreenRun test, at 8 p.m. EST/in ten minutes. We will be covering and live-tweeting it under this tweet.

Watch live:
(THREAD)

NASA is still setting up at this time:

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1350609507643228161

The meeting has started, attendants:

Betta Inclan, Assoc. Admin of Communications
Jim Bridenstine, Administrator
John Honeycutt, SLS Program Manager
(we missed the third)

Bridenstine: "Today was an important day, not everybody is feeling as happy as we could be, we wanted 8 mins, we got over 1, but I want to remind people where we've been and where we're going. This is an important milestone. And of course, SLS has had delays." (no kidding)

"We're really lucky to have the opportunity to fire all four RS-25 engines for over a minute. I'll let Honeycutt talk about what we do know and what we don't know. But today we got lots of data."

"We'll make a determination on whether launching in 2021 is a possibility or not." - Bridenstine

"We already know we have learned a lot, getting up to the point where we actually ignited the rockets. This is a good day, we test for a reason because we want to learn."

Rick Gilbrich: "Out of my 29 years, this is my best day yet. I do want to say how proud I am of the Stennis team. Everyone who has worked to get this stand ready. We've been going through the test program. I'm disappointed but not discouraged."

Gilbrich: "The facility performed as expected, we wanted to deliver our part. The team will be looking at the data. I'm impressed with the integrated test team. This has been a great effort by MSFC, Boeing, AJRD, and our own S-3 test operations contractor. We're ready to support"

Honeycutt: "I overheard someone talking on the phone to one of their friends, surprised to find out we were at work today. We reminded them this is the biggest test we've done here in 50 years. This is why we test. I appreciate the Stennis team, MSFC, and everybody across NASA"

Honeycutt: "I think you guys know we had a couple of WDRs leading up to today, we learned some things, we were able to address today (specifically, an engine bleed conditioning challenge, that we worked on engine 4 today), the team worked through a challenge we saw in WDR #2."

Honeycutt: "We hadn't pressurized the tanks in the core stages in the previous WDRs as we never got that far along. The plan was to do so in parallel with proper engine conditioning. And learn about pressurization - we learned the valves were modeled inappropriately."

Honeycutt: "I know most of you are curious to know why we terminated at 60 sec. When I left the team they were still just starting to pour through the data. We will keep you guys up to speed on what we learned."

"There was some conversation around a failure identification on engine 4, followed by a major component failure, I do not know much more about that than you do. Any parameter that went awry on the engine could send that MCF ID out. We did still have 4 engines running @ 109%."

"We're running a gimbal profile for all four engines, and so a lot of dynamics going on. We did see a flash come from around the interface between the TPS blanket on Engine 4 at the time we initiated the gimbal. At that point in time, the engine controller sent a shutdown cmd."

Bridenstine: "Correction, the thermal conditioning from the hydrogen bleed, before the engines fired, that thermal challenge was on engine 3, not 4"

@jeff_foust: "Is the assumption here that you will go back and do another hotfire? And if so, when?"

Bridenstine: "I don't think we have enough information to know. That's what we discussed. It depends what the anomaly was and how challenging it will be to fix."

"It could be easily fixable and we could feel confident proceeding to the Cape, we could find a challenge that could take more time. It's too early."

Honeycutt concurs: "The team will pour through the data. We would like at least 250 seconds. We need to do our due diligence."

@SciGuySpace: "Potential engine swap, can you do that at Stennis and how long would it take? Are there any in storage that are ready?"

Honeycutt: "We've got the spare engines for A1 here at Stennis now. They're ready to go. If we did have to swap, we'd use those."

Honeycutt: "It may be a week, 10 days, will follow up."

From @wapodavenport: "How long did the engines fire, exactly? Is that enough data?"

Bridenstine: "It was over 60. We'll make a determination on if that is enough."

@joroulette: "How much time would be needed for another hotfire test?"

Honeycutt: "We have to fully understand the problem and what needs to be fixed or repaired if need be."

Rick: "Stennis will take over 4-5 days to replenish all of its resources."

@StephenClark1: "Is there an indication on whether the issue on #4 was a hardware or sensor issue?"

Honeycutt: "Not enough data to know."

@SPACEdotcom: "How does the team feel having this challenge done?"

Rick: "I'm extremely proud and excited. This is a dream come true for a dedicated test site like this."

Bridenstine: "When I first showed up @ NASA, SLS was delayed/overrun, I asked what we needed to do to..."

"...get on track. They suggested we get hardware to work horizontally and vertically so we could work in parallel, and that accelerated the schedule significantly. We took NASA folks at Marshall and across the country and integrated them with the Boeing team."

"Because of that, we're here today, and we're here to move this program forward in a significant way. Here I am a few short days from the end of my tenure as a NASA administrator, and if you told me at my start we'd be doing this today, I'd be questioning it."

"This is the rocket that will be flying our next crew to the moon. This is test and flight hardware. When we do this test, there is risk we just can not take."

Honeycutt: "I know the team I interacted w/ today, as well as the team back at MSFC, and across country, was extremely excited about the accomplishments we made today. Sure, we wanted more, but we see this as a big milestone and they're an extremely dedicated team."

@ken_kremer: "Will you proceed w/ booster stacking and Orion fueling?"

Honeycutt: "As far as stacking, shared w/ some folks in the media that we have started stacking. We have been doing so in parallel. We will continue to monitor that as we move forward."

Nashville news: "Do you believe there will be any minor or major changes to the core stage based on the test?"

Honeycutt: "No, what I've seen so far during the WDR and hotfire and imagery, I don't think we're looking at a redesign."

@SciGuySpace: "Was that flash on the TPS on engine 4 around 60 seconds? Where exactly?"

Honeycutt: "Each engine has a thermal blanket that is robust but flexible. It is flexible though. The flash we saw was in the area of that thermal protection blanket around engine 4."

"As far as timing goes, it was right around 60 seconds. No more detail than that."

@wapodavenport: Is a 2021 launch date still feasible?

Bridenstine: "Not enough data to know, but for the most part, yes, it is still feasible."

@SciGuySpace: "Can you walk us through the engine shutdown?"

"It was hard to see, but we did see that flash around engine 4."

(We missed a bit, our apologies)

Bridenstine: "No, this is not a failure, this is a test. We will learn, and we will go to the Moon after this."

@joroulette: "Should a multi-billion dollar program like SLS be expected to nail its first hotfire successfully?"

Bridenstine: "If you're expecting perfection on your first test, you've never tested before. This is why we do testing. I can not emphasize that enough."

"This test article is also flight hardware. This is unique. We can take next-to-no risk, and we can not afford to have this vehicle fail. Because of the work we have done, it made the decision to shut itself down on its own."

Phillip Sloss, NSF: "What is the minimum time to recertify the engines w/o replacing any of them."

Bridenstine: "What is the duty cycle? Is there one?"

Honeycutt: "We need to do engine drying, potentially anything else, 21-30 days minimum. 5 days to have Stennis ready."

Closing remarks:

Bridenstine "I really want to thank the entire NASA family, our prime contractors, and everyone for getting us to this test today. This program is important for the USA, it is important for us to go to the moon quickly. We must maintain a leadership position."

"The nations of the world should want to join the Artemis program. Artemis is a tool of diplomacy. I am very excited about what is in front of us. Not everything went according to script but we got a lot of information. I have total confidence in the team to figure this out."

"I just want everyone at NASA to be encouraged. All of your work is coming to fruition. 8 minutes is a long time, and this rocket WILL fire for 8 minutes. Imagine that engine 4 had this anomaly on a flight and shut down. Unlike Space Shuttle, on SLS, we have an abort system."

"We saw Nick Hague use the abort system on Soyuz, it was effective and safe, and within months he was flying again. That is what we do at NASA, we figure things out. On SLS, maybe we'd have enough D/V to go to the Moon with 3/4 engines. We have seen recent rockets w/ engines out"

"So, look, there are a lot of good takeaways we can get from this. We have learned a lot and will learn a lot. I am proud of all of you, including the United States of America and Americans as a whole. We have much to learn. I appreciate the interest."

Press conference concluded. This will be @JimBridenstine's last major conference during his tenure as administrator, as confirmed by him today.

Full thread, unrolled: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1350606…