Artemis rocket heads back to its hangar for repairs as moonshot put on hold



NASA on Wednesday is set to roll its enormous Space Launch System rocket back to the hangar for repairs, a move that will delay the launch of four astronauts on a long-awaited flight around the moon by at least a month.

The 322-foot-tall rocket has been sitting out at the launch pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center since mid-January, but engineers recently found a blockage in the flow of helium to part of the booster’s upper stage that requires further investigation.

The rollback means NASA will no longer be able to attempt to launch the Artemis II mission in March. Agency officials said they could potentially try in April, but the timeline will depend on the outcome of the repairs.

“I understand people are disappointed by this development,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote Saturday in a post on X. “That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor.”

Rolling the rocket back to its hangar is a major undertaking. The 4-mile journey, which is set to begin Wednesday morning at around 9 a.m. ET, is a famously slow one, and is expected to take up to 12 hours to complete. The 11-million-pound rocket, stacked with the Orion capsule on top, will be carried on a moving platform known as a crawler-transporter that will move at a snail’s pace of around 1 mile per hour.

Once the rocket reaches the hangar, called the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA said teams will install platforms that will allow engineers to reach where the helium flow issues were detected.

The agency said batteries in the rocket’s upper stage and in a safety mechanism known as the flight termination system will also be replaced and tested while the booster is in the Vehicle Assembly Building.



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Alfaro tras quedar fuera frente a Francia: “Si no era por ese penal, no nos marcaban la diferencia”

    IE 11 no es compatible. Para una experiencia óptima, visite nuestro sitio en otro navegador. SIGUIENTE Jordan Henderson: “No hay nada más grande que jugar contra México en este estadio”…

    The Taiwan Freedom Project Will Uphold a Free and Open Indo-Pacific by Winning in the Information Domain

    Finally, in “What is to be Done?” our experts provide practical, innovative and time-tested solutions to achieve victory, with contributions by John Dotson, director of the Global Taiwan Institute; Dr.…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Melania Trump Wears Adam Lippes Dress for Fourth of July Celebration

    Melania Trump Wears Adam Lippes Dress for Fourth of July Celebration

    Alfaro tras quedar fuera frente a Francia: “Si no era por ese penal, no nos marcaban la diferencia”

    Alfaro tras quedar fuera frente a Francia: “Si no era por ese penal, no nos marcaban la diferencia”

    World Cup 2026: England head coach Thomas Tuchel on Mexico match

    World Cup 2026: England head coach Thomas Tuchel on Mexico match

    Cow corner: cricket match abandoned after runaway bull stops play | Animals

    Cow corner: cricket match abandoned after runaway bull stops play | Animals

    Prosecutors to lay out their case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

    Prosecutors to lay out their case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk

    The Taiwan Freedom Project Will Uphold a Free and Open Indo-Pacific by Winning in the Information Domain