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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA announced on Tuesday that it is now aiming for a March launch of its new moon rocket following troublesome fuel leaks that occurred during a critical test the previous day.
In a statement, the space agency explained that the delay will provide teams the opportunity to examine the data and perform a second wet dress rehearsal before proceeding with the flight test.
The leaks, which echoed similar issues encountered during the rocket’s delayed initial debut three years ago, appeared just hours into the extensive fueling process at Kennedy Space Center. This development has raised concerns about the potential timing for when astronauts might embark on their mission.
NASA stated that the four astronauts designated for this mission will be released from their current two-week quarantine. They will re-enter quarantine approximately two weeks prior to the next scheduled launch for the lunar expedition.
While NASA has not specified an exact launch date in March, the agency emphasized the necessity to thoroughly analyze the test data, address each issue, and resume testing before committing to a new launch timeline. Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the earliest possible date for launching commander Reid Wiseman and his crew to the moon would have been this coming Sunday.
Launch controllers Monday began loading the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with super-cold hydrogen and oxygen at midday. More than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) had to flow into the tanks and remain on board for several hours, mimicking the final stages of an actual countdown.
But excessive hydrogen quickly built up near the bottom of the rocket. Hydrogen loading was halted at least twice as the launch team scrambled to work around the problem using techniques developed during the previous Space Launch System countdown in 2022. That first test flight was plagued by hydrogen leaks before finally soaring without a crew.
NASA also noted in its statement that delays were incurred in close-out operations during the test as well as recurring audio dropout issues for ground crew communications.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission — three Americans and one Canadian — monitored the critical dress rehearsal from nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center.
The space agency only has a few days in any given month to launch the rocket, and the extreme cold already had shortened February’s launch window by two days.
Running behind because of the bitter cold snap, the countdown clocks began ticking Saturday night, giving launch controllers the chance to go through all the motions and deal with any lingering rocket problems. The clocks were set to stop a half-minute before reaching zero, just before engine ignition.
The nearly 10-day mission will send the astronauts past the moon, around the mysterious far side and then straight back to Earth, with the goal of testing the capsule’s life support and other vital systems. The crew will not go into lunar orbit or attempt to land.
NASA last sent astronauts to the moon during the 1960s and 1970s Apollo program. The new Artemis program aims for a more sustained lunar presence, with Wiseman’s crew setting the stage for future moon landings by other astronauts.