CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA announced on Tuesday that it is now aiming for a March launch of its latest moon rocket, following frustrating fuel leaks during a critical test conducted the previous day.
In a statement, the space agency explained that the delay will allow teams to analyze data and perform another wet dress rehearsal prior to the flight test.
The leaks, reminiscent of issues that delayed the rocket’s debut three years ago, emerged just hours into the lengthy fueling process on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. This development has cast doubt on the timeline for when astronauts might actually embark on their mission.
NASA reported that the four astronauts assigned to this flight will end their nearly two-week quarantine. They will re-enter quarantine approximately two weeks before the subsequent launch window for their lunar journey.
While NASA has not specified a new launch date in March, they emphasized the necessity of thoroughly reviewing test data, addressing each concern, and resuming testing. Before the delay announced on Tuesday, the earliest possible launch date for commander Reid Wiseman and his crew was no sooner than the upcoming Sunday.
On Monday, launch controllers commenced the process of filling the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with super-chilled hydrogen and oxygen around midday. Over 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) needed to be loaded into the tanks and remain stable for several hours, simulating the final stages of a real countdown.
But excessive hydrogen quickly built up near the bottom of the rocket. Hydrogen loading was halted at least twice as the launch team scrambled to work around the problem using techniques developed during the previous Space Launch System countdown in 2022. That first test flight was plagued by hydrogen leaks before finally soaring without a crew.
NASA also noted in its statement that delays were incurred in close-out operations during the test as well as recurring audio dropout issues for ground crew communications.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission – three Americans and one Canadian – monitored the critical dress rehearsal from nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center.
The space agency only has a few days in any given month to launch the rocket, and the extreme cold already had shortened February’s launch window by two days.
Running behind because of the bitter cold snap, the countdown clocks began ticking Saturday night, giving launch controllers the chance to go through all the motions and deal with any lingering rocket problems. The clocks were set to stop a half-minute before reaching zero, just before engine ignition.
The nearly 10-day mission will send the astronauts past the moon, around the mysterious far side and then straight back to Earth, with the goal of testing the capsule’s life support and other vital systems. The crew will not go into lunar orbit or attempt to land.
NASA last sent astronauts to the moon during the 1960s and 1970s Apollo program. The new Artemis program aims for a more sustained lunar presence, with Wiseman’s crew setting the stage for future moon landings by other astronauts.
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