Adeyemi Matthew
It may be several weeks before NASA can attempt to launch its massive Space Launch System moon rocket after it was unable to control what agency’s officials described as a large, unmanageable hydrogen leak that forced them to cancel a second flight on Saturday.
NASA's Artemis I moon rocket launch — the US space agency's
second attempt to send its lunar rocket to the moon — was halted for the second
time on Saturday, after a fuel leak was detected.
According to NASA, the launch will not take place on the
next planned date of September 6, which means the next launch window could be
between September 19 and October 4, or in the second half of October. Artemis
I, the agency's first step towards putting humans back on the Moon, will test
the journey to Earth's only natural satellite before humans attempt the
journey.
In a press conference after the Artemis I SLS-Orion
spacecraft launch was halted on Saturday, NASA stated that it will not attempt
to launch the spacecraft during the current launch window which ends on
September 6. The US space agency stated that it halted the launch after a leak
near the base of the rocket was detected ahead of the launch, while liquid
hydrogen was being pumped into the rocket.
According to Jim Free, NASA Associate Director for
Exploration Systems Development, the next possible launch window is September
19 to October 4. If NASA is unable to make a third attempt at launching the
rocket by then, the next window will be October 17 to October 31, he said.
"Over the next several days, teams will establish
access to the area of the leak at Launch Pad 39B, and in parallel conduct a
schedule assessment to provide additional data that will inform a decision on
whether to perform work to replace a seal either at the pad, where it can be
tested under cryogenic conditions, or inside the Vehicle Assembly
Building," NASA communications specialist Rachel Kraft said in a post on
the space agency's Artemis blog.
On August 29, NASA halted the first attempt to launch the
Artemis I SLS-Orion spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, while
engineers attempted to evaluate why a bleed test to get the RS-25 engines on
the bottom of the core stage to the proper temperature was not successful.
NASA is likely to announce the next Artemis I launch date
over the next several days. The rocket might not be able to launch in early
October, according to a report by AFP, as a crew of astronauts is scheduled to
use the Kennedy Space Center for a rocket launch to the International Space
Station. As per the space agency, the launch could also take place in the second
half of October.