NASA Postpones Historic Moon Mission Amid Leaks During Critical Test
In a setback for the US space agency, NASA announced late last night that it would be delaying its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again. The Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch as early as next week from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been pushed back by a month due to issues detected during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet, the Space Launch System (SLS).
According to NASA, engineers discovered leaking hydrogen during an elaborate launch-day walkthrough known as a "wet dress rehearsal." Additionally, teams encountered problems with a valve associated with the Orion capsule, which sits on top of the rocket and is where four astronauts will live and work for a 10-day mission.
Despite making progress during the two-day test, NASA's announcement stated that "teams will fully review data from the test" before proceeding with the launch. This news comes as a frustrating setback for the crew, who have been in quarantine for close to two weeks to prevent them from picking up illnesses before the mission.
For Artemis II, the astronauts are set to embark on the first return of people to the vicinity of the moon in over 50 years. Christina Koch and Victor Glover will become the first woman and person of colour respectively to travel beyond low Earth orbit. The mission marks the second flight of NASA's SLS rocket, which was also plagued by hydrogen leaks during its uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022.
Although the exact launch date has not been specified, NASA stated that it would be "about two weeks" before the next launch window for the crew to re-enter quarantine. This news follows previous reports of possible launch dates between February and the end of April.
In a setback for the US space agency, NASA announced late last night that it would be delaying its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again. The Artemis II mission, scheduled to launch as early as next week from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been pushed back by a month due to issues detected during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet, the Space Launch System (SLS).
According to NASA, engineers discovered leaking hydrogen during an elaborate launch-day walkthrough known as a "wet dress rehearsal." Additionally, teams encountered problems with a valve associated with the Orion capsule, which sits on top of the rocket and is where four astronauts will live and work for a 10-day mission.
Despite making progress during the two-day test, NASA's announcement stated that "teams will fully review data from the test" before proceeding with the launch. This news comes as a frustrating setback for the crew, who have been in quarantine for close to two weeks to prevent them from picking up illnesses before the mission.
For Artemis II, the astronauts are set to embark on the first return of people to the vicinity of the moon in over 50 years. Christina Koch and Victor Glover will become the first woman and person of colour respectively to travel beyond low Earth orbit. The mission marks the second flight of NASA's SLS rocket, which was also plagued by hydrogen leaks during its uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022.
Although the exact launch date has not been specified, NASA stated that it would be "about two weeks" before the next launch window for the crew to re-enter quarantine. This news follows previous reports of possible launch dates between February and the end of April.
oh man... i was so stoked about this mission!!! 
delaying it for another month is like, super frustrating 
especially after all that hard work from the crew 
they've been in quarantine for ages already 
hope everything gets sorted out ASAP 
the idea of having Christina & Victor break barriers on this trip 
still has me hyped 
fingers crossed NASA gets it right next time 
I was really looking forward to seeing astronauts go back to the moon in 2025, but this setback is still super interesting 
. Hydrogen leaks are no joke, that's a big deal for any rocket. Hopefully they can get it sorted out soon so Christina and Victor can make history 
this is like the 3rd one already... what's going on with these rocket tests? can we just get some concrete info instead of vague statements? where's the data? show us the results from those wet dress rehearsals, nasa. how much does it cost to keep the crew in quarantine for 2 weeks btw 
this is kinda frustrating...i mean i get it, safety first right? can't have those astronauts on a mission they're not ready for 
. I mean, can't they even get one test right? A month-long delay for a rocket with major issues? It's not like it's going to be a simple fix or anything. And what's the point of having astronauts in quarantine if they're just gonna have to wait another 2 weeks to launch? It's all so frustrating... 
I was really looking forward to seeing Christina Koch and Victor Glover become the first woman and person of colour to go beyond low Earth orbit. Now it feels like it's slipping away from us... again 
. Can't NASA just get its act together already?! 