"Nasa has postponed its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again, after issues arose during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet. The US space agency had planned to launch the Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as next week, but announced overnight that it would be delayed until March, without specifying a date."
"Teams also encountered a problem with a valve associated with the Orion capsule that sits on top of the rocket, and where four astronauts will live and work while on a 10-day mission. Engineers pushed through several challenges during the two-day test, Nasa said in its announcement, adding that teams will fully review data from the test of the 98-metre-tall rocket."
"As well as the first return of people to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years, Christina Koch and Victor Glover will become the first woman and first person of colour respectively to travel beyond low Earth orbit. It will be the second flight of Nasa's SLS rocket, following the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which was also temporarily plagued by hydrogen leaks during tests."
Nasa postponed the crewed Artemis II mission until March after engineers detected leaking hydrogen during a wet dress rehearsal and encountered a valve problem on the Orion capsule. The two-day test revealed challenges that teams will fully review, including issues with the 98-metre-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Four astronauts, who had been in quarantine, will live and work in the Orion capsule on a planned 10-day lunar flyby. Artemis II will be the second SLS flight and the first crewed round trip around the moon since Apollo 17, setting up Artemis III lunar-landing objectives.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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