The final step before launching the megarocket to the moon was delayed by storms over the weekend.
For the simulation test, lightning struck twice.
Mission operators said they needed to stop mid-rehearsal on Sunday to sort out a problem in the mobile tower that supports the rocket. There was a fan that kept hazardous gases out of the launcher. When it failed, technicians tried to use a backup fan, but it wasn't working either. Officials said that each one had a different issue.
The fans are designed to prevent gases from entering the launchpad during the fueling process, according to the launch director at Kennedy Space Center. This is called positive pressurization.
The NASA team didn't believe it was safe to put the propellant into the rocket without the fan system.
She said that they decided to stand down to get in a configuration and be ready to make another run at it, given that it was the first time loading the vehicle.
The space agency was prepared to continue the dress rehearsal after resolving the fan issue.
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Artemis I is the first in a series of deep space exploration voyages that could blast off as early as May. The United States will be able to send a crew on the next mission, Artemis II, because of the upcoming launch.
Each launch of the rocket is estimated to cost over $4 billion, making it the most expensive ever built.
It has been a long time since NASA had a rocket of this size that could carry astronauts and cargo into deep space. One day, the Space Launch System, or SLS, is expected to put millions of miles on the odometer during the first crewed flight to Mars. It could be in the future that robotic scientific journeys are made to Jupiter and Saturn.
The fully assembled rocket, capped with the Orion spacecraft, is undergoing a two-day demonstration at its Florida launchpad that involves filling the rocket with liquid fuel, practicing a countdown that stops right before ignition, and draining the tanks.
Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The thrust of the four main engines will be enough to keep the eight Boeing 747s aloft. It will take about eight hours to fill the humongous tanks.
NASA will not set a date for the first lunar mission until after this wet dress rehearsal is complete. Artemis could lift off as early as May, though it is more likely that it will happen this summer given the tight schedule.
NASA didn't believe the storms and lightning in the vicinity of the launch pad had anything to do with the fans malfunctioning. The system ran normally during the bad weather.
It wasn't immediately clear to the public how the agency addressed the fan problem overnight.
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The Artemis mission manager told reporters on Sunday that the events surrounding the rocket rehearsal, including four lightning strikes inside the launch pad, have been unusual.
It has been one of the more interesting 48 hours that I have had in the context of working missions leading up to a launch and a key test.
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