CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA encountered a vexing fuel leak during a make-or-break test of its new moon rocket on Monday, raising questions about how soon astronauts will be able to take off on a trip around the moon.
The leak – reminiscent of the rocket’s delayed debut three years ago – occurred just hours after a day of fueling operations at Kennedy Space Center.
At noon, launch controllers began loading ultracold hydrogen and oxygen into the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket. More than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) must flow into storage tanks and remain on board for several hours, simulating the final stages of an actual countdown.
But excess hydrogen quickly accumulated near the bottom of the rocket. Hydrogen loading has been suspended at least twice as launch teams scramble to solve the problem using technology developed during the countdown to the 2022 Space Launch System. The first test flight was plagued by a hydrogen leak and eventually took off without a crew.
The four astronauts assigned to the mission – three Americans and one Canadian – monitored key rehearsals nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center. They have been in isolation for the past 1.5 weeks, awaiting the results of the countdown to training.
Monday’s refueling demonstration will determine when they can lift off for the first lunar voyage in more than half a century.
NASA has until Sunday at most to land Commander Reed Wiseman and his crew on the moon. The rocket must launch by February 11 or the mission will be canceled until March. The space agency only has a few days each month to launch rockets, and extreme cold weather has shortened the February launch window by two days.
The countdown clock began ticking Saturday night due to freezing temperatures, giving launch control crews a chance to complete the maneuvers and deal with any lingering rocket issues. The clock is set to stop half a minute before reaching zero, just before engine ignition.
The nearly 10-day mission will see astronauts fly over the moon, around the mysterious far side and back directly to Earth, with the goal of testing the capsule’s life support and other vital systems. Astronauts will not enter lunar orbit or attempt a landing.
NASA last sent astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s. The new Artemis program aims to achieve a more persistent lunar presence, and Wiseman’s crew laid the foundation for future lunar landings by other astronauts.
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