Cape Canaveral, Florida – NASA said on Tuesday that it is now targeting a March launch of its probe New moon rocket After falling in Exciting fuel leak During a Make or cut test 1 day ago.
The space agency said in a statement that delaying the launch “will allow teams to review the data and conduct a second rehearsal” before the flight test.
The leaks — reminiscent of the rocket’s delayed launch three years ago — emerged just a few hours into a daylong refueling operation Monday at Kennedy Space Center, and raised questions about how quickly the astronauts could take off.
NASA said that the four astronauts assigned to the flight will be transferred from quarantine, which will last for approximately two weeks. NASA added that they will enter quarantine again “about two weeks” before the vehicle’s next launch window Journey around the moon.
The agency gave no indication of an official March launch target, saying that teams first need to “fully review the data from testing, mitigate each issue, and return to testing.” Before Tuesday’s postponement, NASA could have sent Commander Reed Wiseman and his crew to the moon before Sunday.
Launch controllers on Monday began loading the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen at midday. More than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million litres) had to flow into the tanks and remain on board for several hours, simulating the final stages of an actual countdown.
But excess hydrogen quickly accumulates near the bottom of the rocket. Hydrogen loading stalled at least twice as the launch team scrambled to solve the problem using techniques developed during the previous Space Launch System countdown to 2022. That first test flight was plagued by hydrogen leaks before finally flying without a crew.
In its statement, NASA also noted delays in shutdowns during testing as well as frequent audio outage issues for ground crew communications.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission — three Americans and one Canadian — monitored the crucial rehearsal from about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center.
The space agency only has a few days in any month to launch a rocket, and extreme cold has already shortened the February launch window by two days.
After being delayed by a severe cold snap, countdown clocks began ticking Saturday night, giving launch controllers the opportunity to keep track of all the movements and deal with any lingering rocket issues. The clocks are set to stop for half a minute before they reach zero, just before the engine is ignited.
The nearly 10-day mission will send astronauts across the moon, around the mysterious far side and then directly back to Earth, with the aim of testing the capsule’s life support and other vital systems. The crew will not go into lunar orbit or attempt a landing.
The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon was during the Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s. The new Artemis program aims for a more sustainable presence on the moon, with the Wiseman crew paving the way for other astronauts to land on the moon in the future.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.