NASA Delays Lunar Mission After Last-Minute Rocket Issues
On Friday, the space agency had indicated that its Artemis II mission — intended to send astronauts to the Moon for the first time in 50 years — was likely to receive clearance to launch within weeks.
However, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said on Saturday that further maintenance would be required due to technical setbacks.
Four astronauts are preparing for the 10-day round-trip journey to the far side of the Moon, marking humanity’s furthest venture into space. Isaacman acknowledged, “that people are disappointed by this development,” after nearly 50 hours of checks on Thursday had revealed no faults.
The team had been confident that a “wet rehearsal” — a full practice run at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida — had been successful, prompting the initial announcement of a possible 6 March launch.
But overnight on Friday, engineers detected a disruption in the flow of helium, which is essential for pressurizing fuel tanks and cooling rocket systems. NASA treats any interruption in helium flow as a serious technical problem, according to reports.
This test was the second attempt at a practice run, following previous issues with filters and seals that had caused hydrogen leaks. The rocket had been loaded with roughly 730,000 gallons of propellant over several hours on Thursday, with the team describing the simulation as “a big step in us earning our right to fly.”
Isaacman noted that setbacks are common in space missions, citing that Neil Armstrong’s 1966 Gemini 8 flight ended prematurely due to technical problems, before his historic Moon landing three years later.
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