NASA is still sending astronauts back to the moon, but the next crucial mission toward that goal, Artemis II, has been delayed again.
That’s right, we’re still set to do a crewed lunar flyby, but it won’t be happening next month.
Over the weekend, shortly after the federal space agency had announced the success of their second wet dress rehearsal of the historic launch that will send four astronauts closer to the moon than we’ve been in more than half a century, they acknowledged that the preparations hit another snag. Shortly after the successful Thursday rehearsal, NASA officials discovered that there had been an issue with the flow of helium, the gas used to pressurize fuel tanks and clear propellant lines on the Space Launch System, the 322-foot-tall heavy rocket which will propel Artemis to space, eventually.
So now, instead of continuing to prepare for a possible March 6 launch, the rocket is slated to be rolled back off its launchpad at Kennedy Space Center and into the Vehicle Assembly Building where the helium leaks will be worked over. While NASA has yet to formally announce that the March 6 launch has also been pushed back, the crew for Artemis II was released from quarantine in Houston on Monday.
The helium issue represents a new setback just as NASA folks were within sight of the launch. After a failed wet dress rehearsal – where the rocket goes through fueling and countdown until the final moment before liftoff to ensure everything is in order—earlier this month, it was looking like the hydrogen leaks that had cropped up during that trial run had been resolved. Last Thursday’s wet dress rehearsal had gone off without a hitch, according to NASA officials.
But then came the helium fuel line blockage. Helium is used to clean fuel lines and pressurize fuel tanks on the rocket because it is an inert gas that can handle the cold temperatures required for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen without causing any chemical reactions. Launch controllers are still unclear about what caused the issue, a puzzlement that has to be addressed off the launchpad, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted on social media. “Regardless of the potential fault, assessing and remediating any of these issues can only be performed in the [Vehicle Assembly Building],” he stated.
The space agency’s next launch window will be in early April, though they are also assessing possible dates in May and June just in case they run into any other issues.
While NASA officials have said that they’ve sorted out the hydrogen leaks that first pushed back the launch date earlier this month, it’s worth keeping in mind that Artemis I was plagued by hydrogen leaks as well, with the recurring issues ultimately delaying the uncrewed spacecraft launch a full eight months from its first target launch date back in 2022. In other words, although April could see a crewed launch of Orion hurtling toward the moon, it’s also entirely possible that we’re going to be waiting a while longer should any other issues, hydrogen or otherwise, pop up.
That said, whenever the launch does go off, Artemis II will be one to watch. Crewed by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the mission will send the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day long shot around the moon, the first time humans will have been anywhere near the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.