Artemis I has beenpostponed againdue to another unexpected trouble . Aliquid atomic number 1 leakdeveloped while lade the fuel in the core stage of NASA ’s mega Moon rocket , the Space Launch System ( SLS ) , on Saturday . Third clip ’s a charm ? NASA has already rule out another " early September " launching effort , so we may be looking at October .
There ’s a clear dashing hopes for both professionals and hoi polloi wanting to witness the beginning of NASA ’s next big adventure to the Moon , butArtemis Iis first and first of all a test . The SLS and Orion spacecraft have never been charge to blank before , which is why the deputation is uncrewed and tenacious than the first crew Artemis missions are expected to be . The goal is to have the highest certainty of guard before human race are let anywhere near it .
“ The price of two scrubs is a lot less than a bankruptcy , ” NASA honcho Bill Nelson said Saturday during apress conference . “ We do not set up until we think it ’s veracious . ”
Some time today and tomorrow , the missionary station team will determine when the next launch attempt will occur . The first possible launching windowpane opens on September 19 and closes on October 4 , though September 29 - 30 have been ruled out . The following one start on October 17 and ends on October 31 .
Apossible sourceof the leak was a command sent to the organization inadvertently raise the insistence in the rocket ’s tank , before fueling operations . This might have led to the sealing wax shift and have the escape . The team is investigating if this was at all creditworthy for the wetting or if something else is whole to charge .
The late September / early October launch might be more unmanageable to perpetrate off due to the launch of four cosmonaut to the ISS on a SpaceX rocket . Crew-5 , which will see the first Native American woman in space , spaceman Nicole Aunapu , is currently planned for launching on October 3 .
Another issue is that if Artemis stays on the launchpad it wo n’t gather the requirement by the Eastern Range for the credentials on the flight ending system . This is the rocket ’s self - destruct mechanics that is used in case SLS goes on an unpredicted and dangerous trajectory . The system batteries have to be readjust every 25 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. and that can only be done in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center , so the rocket will have to be rolled back in and out before a new launch can be assay again .
