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Saturday’s planned 11:17 a.m. launch of Artemis I was scrubbed due to a liquid hydrogen leak, which was discovered by teams while loading propellant into the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket.
“Multiple troubleshooting efforts to address the area of the leak by reseating a seal in the quick disconnect where liquid hydrogen is fed into the rocket did not fix the issue. Engineers are continuing to gather additional data,” according to NASA’s blog.
This launch was an unmanned test flight which would have sent the Orion capsule on a 37-day journey to the moon, where the capsule would have been placed in orbit. The Artemis program has been designed to put the first woman and the first person of color on the moon. It would mark the first return of humans to the moon since the last Apollo mission was there in 1972.
If Artemis I proves successful, astronauts will fly Artemis II no earlier than 2024. According to NASA’s plans Artemis III would put two astronauts on the moon sometime after 2025.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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