NASA will return its moon rocket to the hangar for more repairs before astronauts strap in – Chicago Tribune
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Grounded until at least April, NASA’s giant moon rocket is returning to the hangar this week for more repairs before astronauts board.
The space agency announced Sunday that it is aiming for a slow, 4-mile trek through the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, weather permitting.
NASA had barely completed a refueling test Thursday, to ensure dangerous hydrogen leaks were plugged, when another problem arose.
This time, the rocket’s helium system malfunctioned, further delaying astronauts’ first trip to the Moon in more than half a century.
Engineers had just controlled the hydrogen leaks and set a launch date for March 6, already a month late, when the helium problem arose. The flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage was interrupted; helium is needed to purge engines and pressurize fuel tanks.
“It is necessary to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy to determine the cause of the problem and resolve it,” NASA said in a statement.
NASA said the rapid preparations for the rollback preserved an April launch attempt, but stressed that it would depend on how the repairs went. The space agency has just a few days a month to launch the four-person crew around the Moon and back.
The three Americans and one Canadian assigned to the Artemis II mission remain on standby in Houston. They will become the first humans to travel to the Moon since NASA’s Apollo program, which sent 24 astronauts there from 1968 to 1972.
