NASA likely to delay Artemis II moon mission launch again due to helium flow problem

NASA will likely delay the launch of the Artemis II mission around the moon again after the discovery of a helium flow problem overnight Friday.

The space agency said Saturday that the rocket and Orion spacecraft may be taken back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after crews witnessed an interruption in the flow of helium during the rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage. 

NASA explained that helium is used to “maintain the proper environmental conditions for the stage’s engine and to pressurize liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant tanks.”

And while the helium worked properly during the agency’s “wet dress rehearsals” for Artemis, “teams were not able to properly flow helium during normal operations” after the wet dress rehearsals on Feb. 19.

NASA DELAYS ARTEMIS MOON MISSION AFTER FINDING FUEL LEAKS IN TEST RUN

“Operators are using a backup method to maintain the environmental conditions for the upper stage engines and the rocket, which remains in a safe configuration,” the agency added.

NASA said Friday it had targeted March 6 to launch Artemis. Now the moonshot may not occur until April, officials said.

“A rollback would mean NASA will not launch Artemis II in the March launch window,” the agency said Saturday. “However, the quick preparations enable NASA to potentially preserve the April launch window if a rollback is required, pending the outcome of data findings, repair efforts, and how the schedule comes to fruition in the coming days and weeks.”

Artemis II is expected to take four astronauts — Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen — around the moon and back in what would be the farthest human spaceflight ever.

It will also be the first moon mission since the Apollo program ended in 1972.

The mission was most recently delayed last month after fuel leaks were discovered during a test run. 

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Artemis I launched an unmanned rocket and spacecraft successfully around the moon in 2022.

Fox News’ Chip Bell contributed to this report.