(Photo: NASA) IANS
New Delhi, February 3 (IANS) NASA has postponed the ambitious Artemis II mission to the Moon to March after detecting a hydrogen leak during a key fuelling test.
The mission to launch a team of four astronauts on a journey around the Moon from Kennedy Space Center in Florida was initially targetted for February 6. It was later delayed to February 8 due to cold weather conditions with winds moving through Florida.
“With the conclusion of the wet dress rehearsal today, we are moving off the February launch window and targeting March for the earliest possible launch of Artemis II,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman shared in a post on social media platform X.
“As always, safety remains our top priority for our astronauts, our workforce, our systems, and the public. We will only launch when we believe we are as ready to undertake this historic mission,” he added.
The two-day test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which began on January 31, successfully loaded cryogenic propellants into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's tanks.
But it ended early on Tuesday due to a liquid hydrogen leak at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical, which had experienced high concentrations of liquid hydrogen earlier in the countdown, as well.
The engineers spent several hours troubleshooting the leak but weren't successful.
“The engineers conducted a first run at terminal countdown operations during the test, counting down to approximately 5 minutes left in the countdown, before the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped the countdown due to a spike in the liquid hydrogen leak rate,” NASA shared in a blog post.
In addition, “a valve associated with Orion crew module hatch pressurisation, which recently was replaced, required retorquing, and closeout operations took longer than planned,” it said, adding that despite several challenges, many of the planned objectives were met.
A second wet dress rehearsal is expected in March, ahead of the scheduled launch.
Meanwhile, the Artemis II astronauts will now be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on January 21. The crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks out from the next targeted launch opportunity, NASA said.
The 10-day mission will set the stage for Artemis III, slated for launch in 2027, when humans will land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there.
The Artemis II crew includes NASA’s commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Jeremy Hansen.
