If you were planning to watch the historic launch of NASA's first Artemis flight to the Moon today, you're in for a rough ride.
The first flight of the space agency's Space Launch System was delayed last week due to an engine bleed. The launch was scrubbed after liquid hydrogen started leaking from the launch pad.
The agency wrote this morning that teams stopped flowing liquid hydrogen into the rocket because of a leak.
The issue was fixed for several hours. Bill Nelson, head of the agency, later said that the next attempt might not happen until October.
The agency wrote that multiple attempts to fix the leak were not successful. Engineers are still gathering data.
There are delays when testing new spaceships at NASA.
The stakes with the SLS, a gigantic, long- delayed, and enormously expensive rocket that's been criticized both inside and outside the agency, are higher than usual.
The rocket's ballooning cost and outdated specifications mean it will never be a practical path to lunar exploration or settlement.
Eric Berger, a veteran space journalist, questioned why the SLS rocket uses liquid hydrogen fuel if it leaks. It's very efficient in terms of energy density. Congress mandated that the SLS rocket use the same engines as the space shuttle did 50 years ago.
Error about type of leak has been corrected.
The former head of NASA has something to say about the moon mission delay.
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