NASA is preparing to remove its large moon rocket from the launch pad to fix a technical problem. This will delay the agency’s long-awaited mission to send a four-person crew around the Moon.
This Saturday (21), NASA announced that it intends to take the rocket back to the hangar at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, to resolve a flaw identified in the upper part of the vehicle. Agency engineers detected an interruption in the flow of helium — the gas necessary for launch — in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, built by Boeing.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the work needed to fix the problem can only be carried out in the huge Vehicle Assembly Building hangar at KSC. He also noted that a similar failure involving helium occurred on the first SLS flight in 2022.
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“I understand that people are disappointed with this development,” Isaacman wrote in a statement published on the social network X. “This disappointment is felt especially by the NASA team, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great undertaking.”
First in 50 years
The setback comes just a day after the agency announced it was targeting March 6 as the launch date for the Artemis II lunar mission, which will send people around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Isaacman stated that the launch will not occur in March, with April being the next closest possible window.
On Thursday (19), NASA carried out a general test with the rocket, during which engineers supplied the vehicle with propellant and simulated several of the steps planned for launch day. The agency had set the March date after the exercise went without any apparent problems.
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