The four astronauts preparing to close a five-decade gap in manned lunar flights will have to wait at least until April before they can begin the Artemis II mission.
During the second dress rehearsal of the SLS rocket last weekend, NASA discovered a problem with the flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage.
Engineers decided that to fix the problem, the giant rocket, currently on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, would need to be transported back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This four-mile rollback to the VAB is expected to occur on Tuesday, February 24th.
On Monday, NASA confirmed that due to the latest issue, the rocket will no longer launch on its recently announced target date of March 6, adding that the Artemis II mission will now launch “no earlier than April 2026.”
NASA added: “By working quickly to begin preparations to return the rocket and spacecraft to the VAB, the April launch window may be preserved pending data results, repair efforts and schedule implementation in the coming days and weeks.”
Artemis II crew members — Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency — left quarantine Saturday evening and remain at the NASA facility in Houston, Texas.
NASA had originally targeted February 8 for launch, but another problem during the first dress rehearsal caused a delay, and NASA then announced March 6 as a possible launch date. But that too has now been ignored as the team is currently hoping for an April launch.
The highly anticipated mission will see the crew conduct detailed tests on the Orion spacecraft’s systems as it flies around the moon. A smooth journey paves the way for a manned moon landing as part of the Artemis III mission, which could take place before the end of this decade.
Want to follow the 10-day mission when it finally begins? NASA recently released a fascinating video showing exactly how the flight is expected to proceed.
