Nasa’s Moon Rocket Countdown Hit by Fuel Leak
Nasa encountered a leak during the fueling of its new moon rocket on Monday, in a crucial test that will decide the timeline for astronauts’ launch on a lunar fly-around. The launch team commenced the process of loading the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with super-cold hydrogen and oxygen at Kennedy Space Center around midday. Over 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) were required to fill the tanks and stay onboard for several hours, simulating the concluding phases of a genuine countdown. However, merely a few hours into the extensive operation, an alarming amount of hydrogen was identified near the base of the rocket. Hydrogen loading was paused, with only fifty percent of the core stage filled.
The launch team swiftly adapted to the challenge, employing strategies honed during the previous Space Launch System rocket launch three years prior. The initial test flight encountered significant hydrogen leaks before ultimately taking to the skies. The crew, consisting of three Americans and one Canadian, observed the crucial dress rehearsal from almost 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, where the Johnson Space Center is located. They have been in quarantine for the past week and a half, awaiting the outcome of the practice countdown. The comprehensive operation will ascertain the timing for the launch of the first crewed lunar mission in over fifty years. Due to a bitter cold snap, Nasa found itself running two days behind schedule, prompting the decision to halt its countdown clocks a half-minute prior to reaching zero, just before the ignition of the engines.
The countdown commenced Saturday night, allowing launch controllers to meticulously execute all necessary procedures and address any remaining issues with the rocket. The first SLS rocket remained on the pad for months in 2022 due to hydrogen leaks. If the fueling demonstration is completed successfully and on schedule, NASA could launch Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew to the moon as early as Sunday. The rocket is required to be in flight by February 11; otherwise, the mission will be postponed until March. The space agency is constrained to a limited number of days each month for rocket launches, and the severe cold has already reduced February’s launch window by two days.
The nearly 10-day mission will take the astronauts beyond the moon, circling the enigmatic far side before returning directly to Earth, aiming to evaluate the capsule’s life support and other essential systems. The crew will refrain from entering lunar orbit or making any attempts to land. Nasa last dispatched astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s. The new Artemis program seeks to establish a more enduring presence on the moon, with Wiseman’s crew paving the way for subsequent lunar landings by other astronauts.
