The launch of NASA's Artemis "mega moon rocket" has been pushed out more than a month due to an engine leak.
The next launch window won't open until early October and the Artemis 1 rocket will be rolled back to the vehicle assembly building.
The uncrewed Artemis 1 rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida was attended by a crowd of 400,000 people.
As the sun rose over Launch Pad 39B, where the rocket was being loaded with its supercooled liquid hydrogen fuel, an alarm sounded, alerting engineers to a gap in the seal of one of the rocket's engines.
NASA said that engineers tried and failed to plug the leak three times.
The Artemis I mission's Mega Moon rocket's launch pad was struck by lightning.
After the launch was called off, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the rocket's next launch window will open in early October, but because other missions will be prioritized over Artemis 1, the third launch attempt probably will fall in the middle of the month.
The first of two test journeys that will pave the way for a crewed moon landing as early as 2025, marks humanity's first trip back to the moon since 1972 and signals NASA's intent to establish a long term presence there.
Nelson said they were going when it was ready. "We don't go until then, and especially now on a test flight, because we're going to stress this and test it, and make sure it's right before we put four humans up on the top of it."
Technical issues scrubbed both Artemis 1 launches.
Engineers were not able to cool one of the rocket's four core-stageRS-25 engines in time for liftoff.
The problem was caused by a faulty sensor that reported the temperature inside the engine as being much higher than it actually was, according to NASA.
A hydrogen fuel leak from one of the rocket's core-stage engines caused the second attempt to be canceled.
The Artemis 1 mission is part of the larger Artemis program. Artemis 1 will be followed by Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 in the next two years.
The same journey will be made by Artemis 2, but with a four person crew, and Artemis 3 will send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon.
Nelson said that the rest of the program's schedule wouldn't be affected by the delay to the first launch.
The launch of NASA's moon rocket was months away.
A liquid-hydrogen leak and a faulty helium valve prevented the rocket from being ready to go during the wet dress rehearsal.
NASA had to roll out the rocket without a full pre launch test because of this. Nevertheless, the delays have arrived.
The Artemis program's ballooning price tag will be looked at more closely by NASA.
According to the Office of NASA Inspector General, Artemis has already cost more than US$40 billion to develop and is projected to cost US$93 billion by the end of the century.
NASA must accelerate its efforts to identify ways to make its Artemis-related programs more affordable, given our estimate of a US$4.1 billion per-launch cost of the SLS/Orion system for the first four Artemis missions.
NASA's ability to sustain its long-term human exploration goals of the moon and Mars will be adversely affected by relying on such an expensive heavy-lift rocket system.
NASA engineers were taking extreme care of the rocket's launch because of its important role in future space operations, according to the manager of the Artemis mission.
This is a very difficult business. This is the first flight of this vehicle. We're going to fly when we're prepared. We are learning the vehicle during the initial test flight. We're learning how to drive.
The Artemis program is worth the high cost because it will spur technological innovation and be a crucial next step in the exploration of the universe, according to NASA.
We're going to learn how to live in a hostile environment for a long period of time on Mars.
Weather problems in the Atlantic basin could emerge if NASA doesn't iron out the technical issues.
There are two new named storms this year in the Atlantic, Danielle and Earl. The unpredictable nature of October's flight will be added to by the weather.
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The original article was published by Live Science. The original article can be found here.
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