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NASA’s Artemis II moon launch delayed after technical issues during rehearsal
ALONG FOR. WE’RE GOING TO CHECK SOME OF THOSE TRAVEL TIMES COMING UP IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. BREAKING OVERNIGHT. THE FIRST MANNED FLIGHT TO GO AROUND THE MOON IN NASA’S NEW SPACECRAFT IS DELAYED. THE AGENCY NOW SAYS ARTEMIS TWO WON’T LAUNCH UNTIL NEXT MONTH AT THE EARLIEST. WESH TWO BOB HAZEN LIVE IN TITUSVILLE THIS MORNING. SO, BOB, THAT ANNOUNCEMENT CAME AFTER ISSUES DURING THAT DRESS REHEARSAL. YEAH, THAT IS THE WET DRESS REHEARSAL WHERE THEY FUEL THE ROCKET UP WITH LIQUID NITROGEN OR LIQUID HYDROGEN, RATHER. AND WE ARE TOLD THAT THEY DID FIND SOME PROBLEMS. THE ARTEMIS TWO MISSION WAS SUPPOSED TO LAUNCH THIS WEEKEND, ON SUNDAY. BUT THE HEAD OF NASA, JARED ISAACMAN, WAS ON ECS AROUND 2 A.M. AND WROTE THAT THEY FOUND HYDROGEN LEAKS WHILE FUELING UP THE TANK DURING THAT WET DRESS REHEARSAL. THEY ALSO HAD SOME AUDIO DROPOUTS AND ISSUES WITH CAMERAS. BECAUSE OF THE COLD WEATHER AND OTHER PROBLEMS, AND BECAUSE OF ALL OF THOSE ISSUES, THEY ARE PUSHING THE LAUNCH WINDOW BACK TO MARCH. WE TALKED TO A RESEARCH CHEMIST WHO WAS AT THE SPACE CENTER MONITORING THE PROCESS, AND HE SAYS NASA WILL NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING WRONG. THEY CAN’T GO TO LAUNCH UNTIL THEY PROVE THAT THEY CAN FUEL THE ROCKET AND IT DOESN’T LEAK, BECAUSE IF THERE’S A LEAK, IT COULD EXPLODE. AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ASTRONAUTS ARE GOING TO BE SAFE. THE MISSION IS SUPPOSED TO DO A FLYBY OF THE MOON WITH A CREW ON BOARD, AND THE FOUR ASTRONAUTS WERE SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE AT KSC TODAY, BUT THAT’S BEEN PUSHED BACK. NASA SAYS THEY’LL CARRY OUT ANOTHER WET DRESS REHEARSAL BEFORE THE LAUNCH. AND WHILE THEY SAY THE NEW WINDOW IS GOING TO BE IN MARCH, THERE’S STILL NO EXACT DATE YET SET FOR THAT ARTEMIS TWO LAUNCH.
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NASA’s Artemis II moon launch delayed after technical issues during rehearsal
NASA’s Artemis II mission has been postponed to March following technical issues identified during a wet dress rehearsal. The mission was originally scheduled for launch this Sunday, Feb. 8. During the rehearsal on Monday, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak, according to NASA. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced on X around 2 a.m. that hydrogen leaks had been discovered during fueling of the tank. Beyond the liquid hydrogen leak, teams encountered several additional issues, including:A recently replaced valve for the Orion crew module hatch pressurization system required retorquing.Closeout operations took longer than planned.Cold weather affected several cameras and other equipment.Intermittent audio communication dropouts occurred across ground teams.A research chemist monitoring the process at the space center said NASA will need to figure out what was going wrong. NASA explained that the launch was mainly delayed to allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal. While the new launch window is set for March, there is no specific launch date yet.
NASA’s Artemis II mission has been postponed to March following technical issues identified during a wet dress rehearsal.
The mission was originally scheduled for launch this Sunday, Feb. 8.
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During the rehearsal on Monday, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak, according to NASA.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced on X around 2 a.m. that hydrogen leaks had been discovered during fueling of the tank.
Beyond the liquid hydrogen leak, teams encountered several additional issues, including:
- A recently replaced valve for the Orion crew module hatch pressurization system required retorquing.
- Closeout operations took longer than planned.
- Cold weather affected several cameras and other equipment.
- Intermittent audio communication dropouts occurred across ground teams.
A research chemist monitoring the process at the space center said NASA will need to figure out what was going wrong.
NASA explained that the launch was mainly delayed to allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal.
While the new launch window is set for March, there is no specific launch date yet.
