Nasa’s moon rocket launch scuppered again
CAPE CANAVERAL: For the second time in a week, Nasa yesterday aborted an attempt to launch its giant, nextgeneration rocketship, citing a stubborn fuel leak the space agency said could delay the debut mission of its moontoMars Artemis programme by at least several weeks.
Preflight operations were called off for the day about three hours before the scheduled liftoff time early yesterday for the 32storeytall space launch system (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The uncrewed test flight, aimed at launching the capsule out to the moon and back, was to have marked the inaugural voyage of both the SLS and Orion a half century after the last lunar mission of Apollo, forerunner of the Artemis programme.
The countdown was scrubbed after Kennedy Space Centre technicians made three failed attempts to fix a ‘‘large’’ leak of supercooled liquid hydrogen propellant being pumped into the rocket’s corestage fuel tanks, agency officials said.
The initial launch attempt last Tuesday was likewise foiled by technical problems, including a different leaky fuel line, a faulty temperature sensor and cracks found in insulation foam.
Mission managers proceeded with a second launch attempt yesterday once the earlier issues had been resolved to their satisfaction. And Nasa had reserved another backup launch time, for either tomorrow or Wednesday, in case a third try was needed.
But after a review of data from the latest difficulties, the agency concluded the new hydrogen leak was too tricky and timeconsuming to finish troubleshooting and fix on the launch pad before the current launch period allotted to the mission expires on Wednesday.
The delay means the earliest opportunity to try again would come during the next launch period that runs September 1930, or during a subsequent October window, an associate NASA administrator, Jim Free, told reporters at a lateafternoon briefing.
Apart from its technical challenges, Artemis I signals a major turning point for Nasa’s postApollo human spaceflight programme, after decades focused on lowEarth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station.
Named for the goddess who was Apollo’s twin sister in ancient Greek mythology, Artemis aims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface as early as 2025, though many experts believe that time frame will likely slip.