The test launch of a rocket that is supposed to carry astronauts to the moon was called off for the second time in a week. NASA officials were confident that it would be just a temporary hiccup for the signature national spaceflight program.
NASA officials said that they were ready to try again later this month or in October after the cause of the hydrogen leak is understood.
The cost of two scrubs is less than a failure according to Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator.
NASA's new rocket is not large enough to fail. It may be that the vehicle is important to the space agency's moon plans.
The rocket, known as the Space Launch System, is one of the reasons why NASA has spent so much money on it. Billions of dollars are over budget for the program. Supporters of a more commercial approach to spaceflight have criticized it, saying that companies like Musk's SpaceX offer the most cost-effective and efficient way to advance human journeys to space.
A catastrophic failure of this rocket could delay the moon program by years and possibly lead to questions of its value.
People who aren't fans of the Space Launch System think NASA's caution is wise.
The rocket is too expensive and prefers commercial approaches to spaceflight according to a former NASA deputy administrator. I don't pay attention to that.
The Apollo program included the moon landings. Artemis is the name of the new return-to- the-moon effort. Artemis was one of the twin sisters of Apollo.
The Artemis I mission will be a weekslong uncrewed mission that will test the rocket and capsule. The third Artemis mission will land astronauts near the moon's south pole and the next Artemis mission will have astronauts on board.
The hydrogen fuel line was found to have a hydrogen leak as the clock neared a launch.
There is a risk of having a flammability event if you get above a 4% concentration of hydrogen in the air.
The concentrations were two to three times the limit. The launch attempt was stopped at 11:17 a.m. after three unsuccessful attempts to seal the leak. The launch director is Charlie Blackwell- Thompson.
The problem may have been caused by an incorrect command sent to the propellant-loading system on the launchpad, causing excessive high pressures in the fuel line for a short time. It could have caused damage to the gasket.
Engineers were able to fill up the rocket with 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen after a small hydrogen leak appeared at the same part as the first launch attempt. The launch was canceled when a faulty sensor reported that one of the rocket's four core-stage engines was not sufficiently chilled.
NASA officials were considering options after Saturday's launch was called off. One option was to connect the fuel line and try to launch again in a few days. Our confidence level was low because of the size of the leak that we saw today.
Engineers couldn't test the line with liquid hydrogen until the rocket came back to the launchpad.
Jim Free, an associate administrator at NASA, said that he and others at the agency were disappointed at the outcome but proud of their team.
She said that the choice to use shuttle engines meant that hydrogen was locked in. If those decisions continue to bite us, we will be concerned.
She said that they could get over it in the next round. It will be forgotten.
Some of the disappointed spectators understood.
It was the second time in a week that throngs of people along Central Florida's waterways and beaches faced disappointment at not being able to take in the first launch of the most powerful rocket since the 1960's and 70's.
A man and his son went on a boat tour in the hopes of seeing a rocket launch. The thing was not going to happen.
He told his son that rockets were like cats, they would go up when they wanted to.
This morning Mr. Anderson signed up for a boat tour with his daughter. He called the scrubbittersweet but hedged that they had begun the day with the expectation that it wouldn't happen.
He said the outings were still worth it despite the launch not happening again.
Christine Chung reported.
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