CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Facing a postponement until at least April, NASA’s formidable lunar launch vehicle is scheduled for a return to its assembly facility this week to undergo further remediation, prior to astronaut boarding.
The space administration announced on Sunday that the tentative schedule for the deliberate, 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) transit across the Kennedy Space Center is Tuesday, contingent upon favorable weather conditions.
NASA had recently concluded a repeated operational test involving fueling on Thursday, designed to confirm the successful sealing of hazardous hydrogen fuel leaks, only for another complication to emerge.
This instance involved a malfunction within the rocket’s helium management system, precipitating an additional delay for the inaugural crewed lunar voyage in over fifty years.
Technicians had just successfully addressed the hydrogen leaks and had designated a March 6 launch window – already shifted back by a month – when the helium anomaly surfaced.
The delivery of helium to the rocket’s upper stage experienced an interruption; this gas is essential for purging the engines and maintaining optimal pressure within the fuel tanks.
“Relocation back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy is a necessity to ascertain the root cause of the problem and implement corrective measures,” stated NASA in a formal release.
The agency indicated that expedited rollback preparations are intended to preserve an April launch opportunity, though it emphasized that the success of this endeavor hinges on the effectiveness of the repair procedures.
The space agency has a limited number of launch opportunities each month to facilitate the four-person crew’s circumnavigation of the Moon and safe return.
The three American astronauts and one Canadian national designated for the Artemis II mission are currently awaiting further instructions in Houston.
They are poised to make history as the first individuals to journey to the Moon since the inception of NASA’s Apollo program, which dispatched 24 astronauts to lunar destinations between 1968 and 1972.
