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At Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA made another attempt to fuel its massive moon rocket on Thursday. This effort comes after previous leaks disrupted the initial dress rehearsal, delaying the first lunar mission involving astronauts in over 50 years.
For the second time this month, the launch team successfully loaded over 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of ultra-cold fuel into the rocket, stationed on its launch pad. They proceeded with the countdown to the 30-second mark without encountering significant leaks, then reset to go through the final 10 minutes again. NASA concluded the test late Thursday night, deeming it complete.
This fueling trial was the most pivotal and demanding segment of the two-day simulated countdown. Its success will be a key factor in determining if a March launch is feasible for the Artemis II mission, which will carry four astronauts to the moon.
During a rehearsal two weeks prior, excessive amounts of supercold liquid hydrogen leaked from the connections between the pad and the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket. In response, engineers replaced two seals and cleared a clogged filter, hoping these fixes would ensure a successful repeat test at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA will not announce a launch date for the Artemis II mission until the fueling test is successfully completed. On Thursday, three members of the U.S.-Canadian crew joined the launch team to observe the test’s progress.
The soonest the astronauts could soar is March 6. They will become the first people to fly to the moon — making a 10-day out-and-back trip with no stops — since Apollo 17 in 1972. They won’t orbit or land.
NASA has been battling hydrogen fuel leaks ever since the space shuttle era, which provided many of the SLS engines. The first Artemis test flight without anyone on board was grounded for months by leaking hydrogen before finally blasting off in November 2022.
Going years between flights exacerbates the problem, according to NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman, a tech entrepreneur who financed his own trips to orbit through SpaceX.
Just two months into the job, Isaacman already is promising to redesign the fuel connections between the rocket and pad before the next Artemis III launch. Still a few years away, that mission will attempt to land two astronauts near the moon’s south pole.
“We will not launch unless we are ready and the safety of our astronauts will remain the highest priority,” he said last week on X.
Isaacman reiterated the need for safety midway through Thursday’s fueling test, as he released a scathing report on Boeing’s Starliner capsule program that left two astronauts stuck for months aboard the International Space Station. He said the crisis could have resulted in a loss of crew, and he blamed both Boeing and NASA leadership.
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