Artemis I SLS-Orion Spacecraft Launch May Not Be Possible This Month, NASA Says

NASA halted its Artemis I SLS-Orion spacecraft launch on Saturday after a fuel leak was detected.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 5 September 2022 10:06 IST

Artemis I SLS-Orion Spacecraft Launch May Not Be Possible This Month, NASA Says

Photo Credit: Twitter/@nasahqphoto

NASA's Orion spacecraft and space launch system ahead of the August 29 launch that was halted

Highlights

Artemis I is the first part of NASA's attempt to send humans to the Moon
Artemis I is the first in a series of several complex missions
NASA is also testing the SLS, its most powerful rocket launch vehicle

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.

NOW: @NASAArtemis teams provide an update on the status of the #Artemis I flight test to the Moon following the Sept. 3 launch attempt. https://t.co/1MoquGPIgs
— NASA (@NASA) September 3, 2022

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.

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Further reading: Artemis I, NASA, Artemis, Moon Mission, Lunar Rocket, Orion, Orion Spacecraft, SLS, Space Launch System

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More