NASA cancels Artemis moon rocket launch due to engine problem

• NASA cancels Artemis moon rocket launch.
• The next attempt won’t take place until Friday at the earliest.
• A fuel leak and then an engine problem during final preparations for takeoff caused the delay.

A fuel leak and then an engine problem during final takeoff preparations prompted NASA to halt the launch of its powerful new moon rocket on Monday morning, August 29, 2022. It was to be a test flight with three dummies on board.

The next launch attempt won’t take place until Friday at the earliest. As the precious minutes ticked by, NASA repeatedly stopped and started fueling the Space Launch System rocket with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cold hydrogen and oxygen due to a highly explosive hydrogen leak at the same location that leaked during a general rehearsal in the spring, reported the AP.

NASA suspends launch of new moon rocket

Photo: AP

NASA then ran into more problems when it failed to properly cool one of the rocket’s four main engines, officials said. Engineers continued to work to collect data and identify the source of the problem after the launch postponement was announced.

The rocket was ready to take off on a mission to put a crew capsule into orbit around the moon. The launch marks a milestone in the United States’ quest to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago.

What happened to the moon rocket?

Photo: AP

The 322-foot (98-meter) spacecraft is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA, surpassing even the Saturn V that carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon. As for when NASA might make another launch attempt, launch commentator Derrol Nail said the issue was still being looked at and «we have to wait to see what comes out of their test data.»

There were no astronauts inside the rocket’s Orion capsule. Instead, the test dummies, equipped with sensors to measure vibration, cosmic radiation and other conditions were set up for the six-week mission, scheduled to end with the capsule’s splashdown in the Pacific in October.

NASA breaks their silence

Photo: Twitter

“The launch of #Artemis I is no longer happening today as teams work through an issue with an engine bleed. Teams will continue to gather data, and we will keep you posted on the timing of the next launch attempt,» NASA said in a statement on Twitter.

Although no one was on board, thousands of people packed the shoreline to watch the rocket blast off. Vice President Kamala Harris was expected among the VIPs. The launch, when it happens, will be the first flight in NASA’s 21st-century lunar exploration program, named Artemis after Apollo’s mythological twin sister.

When would the astronauts return to the moon?

Photo: AP

Assuming the test goes well, the astronauts will climb aboard for the second flight and fly around the moon and return as early as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow in late 2025. The problems seen on Monday, August 29, 2022, were reminiscent of NASA’s space shuttle era, when hydrogen fuel leaks disrupted countdowns and delayed a series of launches in 1990.

Later in the morning, NASA officials also detected what they feared was a crack or some other defect in the core stage, the large orange fuel tank with four main engines, but later said it appeared to be just a frost buildup.