Cape Canaveral, Florida- The new lunar rocket POT suffered another setback on Saturday, which will almost certainly delay astronauts’ first lunar trip in decades until spring.
The space agency revealed the latest problem just one day after targeting March 6 for the mission. Artemis IIhumanity’s first flight to the Moon in more than half a century. During the night, the flow of helium to the rocket’s upper stage was interrupted, authorities said. Solid helium flow is essential for bleeding engines and pressurizing fuel tanks.
The helium problem has nothing to do with the hydrogen fuel leaks that marred a countdown dress rehearsal for the Space Launch System rocket earlier this month and forced the test to be repeated.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said a bad filter, valve or connection plate could be to blame for stagnating helium flow. Regardless of the cause, he noted, the only way to access the area and fix the problem is at the Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building.
“We will begin preparations for decommissioning, and this will eliminate the March launch window,” Isaacman said via X. NASA’s next opportunities would be in early or late April.
Early this morning, NASA said it was preparing to return the 322-foot rocket to its hangar for repairs, while raising the possibility of work being done on the pad.
“I understand that people are disappointed by this news,” Isaacman said. “This disappointment is felt especially by the entire NASA team, which has worked tirelessly to prepare this great undertaking.”
Hydrogen leaks in the fuel had already delayed the lunar flyby of Artemis II by a month. On Thursday, a second fuel loading test revealed that there were hardly any leaks, giving those responsible confidence to aim for a March takeoff.
The four astronauts entered their two-week quarantine on Friday night, mandatory to avoid germs.
The interrupted helium flow is limited to the intermediate cryogenic propulsion stage of the SLS rocket. This upper stage is essential for placing the Orion crew capsule into the proper high-altitude orbit around Earth for checkout after liftoff.
After that, it is supposed to separate from Orion and serve as a target for the astronauts inside the capsule, allowing them to practice docking techniques for future missions to the Moon.
During NASA’s Apollo program, 24 astronauts flew to the Moon between 1968 and 1972. The new Artemis program has only made one flight to date, an uncrewed lunar orbit mission in 2022. That first test flight was also plagued by hydrogen fuel leaks before liftoff, as well as a helium problem similar to the one that arose on Saturday.
Artemis’ first crewed moon landing is still some way off.