Nasa delays moon rocket launch by a month after fuel leaks during test | Nasa

NASA has postponed its historic mission to send astronauts around the Moon and back after problems arose during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet.

The American space agency had planned to launch the Artemis II mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida next week, but announced overnight that it would be postponed until March, without specifying a date.

During a detailed visit on launch day, known as a “wet dress rehearsal,” engineers detected a hydrogen leak from the Space Launch System (SLS). Teams also encountered a problem with a valve associated with the Orion capsule that sits atop the rocket and where four astronauts will live and work during a 10-day mission.

“Engineers overcame several challenges during the two-day test,” NASA said in its statement, adding that “the teams will fully review the test data” from the 98-meter-tall rocket.

The news will be a frustrating setback for the crew, who have been in quarantine for nearly two weeks to avoid contracting illnesses ahead of the mission.

In addition to the first return of people near the Moon in more than 50 years, Christina Koch and Victor Glover will become the first woman and first person of color, respectively, to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

This will be the second flight of NASA’s SLS rocket, after the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which was also temporarily plagued by hydrogen leaks during tests.

For Artemis II, the astronauts will not enter lunar orbit but will be the first to make the 685,000-mile round trip around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission paves the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole. NASA ultimately wants to establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface as part of its Artemis program, which owes its name to the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo.

American astronaut Reid Wiseman, who spent months living and working on the International Space Station, was chosen as commander of Artemis II. Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian physicist and fighter pilot, is also part of the crew. If the trip is completed successfully, Hansen will become the first non-U.S. astronaut to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

During Tuesday’s overnight test, more than 2.6 million liters (700,000 gallons) of very cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen had to flow into the tanks, mimicking the final stages of a real-life countdown.

Due to the delay, NASA said the crew would return to quarantine “approximately two weeks” before the next launch window. The agency previously indicated that there were several possible launch dates between February and the end of April.