Complications with the Artemis II rocket are threatening to delay the launch of NASA’s highly anticipated lunar mission, just one day after the agency targeted March 6 as a potential launch date. NASA announced Saturday it is “taking steps to potentially roll back the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building” at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following the detection of an “interrupted flow of helium” to the rocket system.
The Artemis II mission is planned to send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, marking the first crewed mission to lunar vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972. According to NASA, a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building would eliminate all five potential launch dates in March. The agency currently has six launch opportunities available in April.
NASA officials stated the cause of the helium flow interruption remains unclear. Teams are “actively reviewing data” and working to “address the issue as soon as possible while engineers determine the best path forward.” The agency is also examining data from the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which experienced helium-related pressurization issues in its upper stage prior to launch.
The potential delay follows a period of optimism after the completion of a second “wet dress rehearsal” on Friday. Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator of NASA’s exploration systems development mission directorate, described the progress as a sign that “This is really getting real,” and urged a shift towards “getting serious and start getting excited.”
Earlier this month, a test of the rocket revealed several issues, including a liquid hydrogen leak. Officials reported that these problems were resolved through seal replacements and other repairs and that the latest countdown rehearsal proceeded smoothly despite temporary disruptions to ground communications in the Launch Control Center, which required a switch to backup systems.
The Artemis II crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The mission is designed to test NASA’s deep space systems and pave the way for future lunar landings and eventual missions to Mars. Glover is slated to become the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit and orbit the Moon, according to NASA.
