NASA officials said the agency is planning to launch four astronauts around the Moon now for April, as part of his Artemis II mission.
NASA’s gigantic moon rocket will return to its hangar this week. The release date for March 6th was discarded.
What are the problems that are delaying the mission?
NASA had barely completed a new supply test on Thursday (19) to ensure they were stable, when another problem arose.
This time, the rocket’s helium system malfunctioned, further delaying the first astronaut trip to the Moon in more than half a century.
Engineers had just controlled the hydrogen leaks and set the launch date for March 6 – already a month late – when the problem with helium arose. The flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage was stopped; helium is needed to purge engines and pressurize fuel tanks.
“It is necessary to return to the vehicle assembly building at Kennedy to determine the cause of the problem and correct it,” NASA said in a statement.
Towards the Moon
The Artemis II mission will use the SLS rocket to take the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board for a flight of about 10 days around the Moon.
However, this initial flight will not land on the surface, it will work to test the systems that will be used in future manned missions, especially Artemis III, scheduled to take astronauts to the lunar surface.
Brazil is a signatory to the Artemis program.
Among the astronauts scheduled for Artemis II are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, who will be the first to travel this far since the Apollo missions ended more than 50 years ago. It will be the first time that a black man, a woman and a Canadian will travel to the Moon.
