NASA targets a March launch of the moon rocket after test run reveals fuel leaks
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA announced Tuesday that it is now targeting a March launch of its new moon rocket after encountering maddening fuel leaks during a landmark test the day before.
The space agency said in a statement that the launch delay “will allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal” before the flight test.
The leaks — reminiscent of the rocket’s delayed debut three years ago — came just hours after the start of Monday’s daylong refueling operation at the Kennedy Space Center and called into question how quickly the astronauts could take off.
NASA said the four astronauts responsible for the flight would be released from their nearly two-week quarantine. NASA added that it would enter quarantine again “about two weeks” before the next launch window for the trip around the moon.
The agency gave no indication of an official launch goal in March, saying teams must first “fully review the test data, mitigate each issue, and return to testing.” Before Tuesday’s delay, NASA could have launched Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew to the Moon no earlier than Sunday.
Launch controllers began loading the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with very cold hydrogen and oxygen at noon Monday. More than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) must have flowed into the tanks and remained on board for several hours, mimicking the final stages of a real countdown.
But excess hydrogen quickly built up near the bottom of the rocket. Hydrogen loading was interrupted at least twice as the launch team worked to work around the problem using techniques developed during the Space Launch System’s previous countdown to 2022. That first test flight was plagued by hydrogen leaks before finally blasting off without a crew.
NASA also noted in its statement that there were delays in closing operations during the test as well as recurring issues with loss of sound for ground team communications.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission – three Americans and one Canadian – monitored the critical dress rehearsal from nearly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away, in Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center.
The space agency only has a few days each month to launch the rocket, and extreme cold has already shortened the February launch window by two days.
Late because of the bitter cold snap, the countdown began Saturday evening, giving launch controllers a chance to make all the moves and fix the rocket’s lingering problems. The clocks were set to stop half a minute before reaching zero, just before the engine was fired.
The nearly 10-day mission will send astronauts beyond the Moon, around the mysterious far side, and then directly to Earth, with the aim of testing the capsule’s life support system and other vital systems. The crew will not enter lunar orbit or attempt to land.
NASA last sent astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, as part of the 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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