After engineers were unable to repair a leak of liquid hydrogen during the fueling of the rocket engine’s tanks, NASA was forced to abort its Artemis 1 mission to the Moon for the second time in a week. On August 29, the mission’s scheduled launch was also cancelled due to a similar issue.
The Space Launch System rocket’s core stage was being loaded with propellant when a liquid hydrogen leak was discovered, according to NASA. Multiple attempts at diagnosing the leak’s location by replacing a seal in the quick disconnect where liquid hydrogen is supplied into the rocket failed to resolve the problem. Engineers are still gathering more information.
A problem with one of the rocket’s four engines not receiving enough cooling was present on August 29 as well. NASA engineers had been working on the issues for the previous week and believed they had found a solution. However, there were numerous instances of the liquid hydrogen leakage during the fueling prior to the launch on Saturday night, and engineers were frequently putting out fires.
At 11.17 am EDT, or 8.47 pm in India, NASA decided to cancel the launch after the leak surfaced a third time. A two-hour launch window was to open at 2.17 PM EDT (11.47 PM India), the time of the launch.
Since this rocket is new, many launches fail on the first try. The outcome was expected. Some analysts had issued a cautionary note even before the initial attempt last Monday.
The launch of Artemis 1 marks the beginning of what NASA hopes will be a new era of space exploration that will take mankind back to the Moon and deeper into the universe. NASA will attempt once more.
On September 5 and September 6, there are launch windows available, but it wasn’t immediately apparent if NASA would try again to launch the mission so soon.
