NASA stalls Artemis II moon launch due to rare arctic Florida outbreak

Cold temperatures in the Sunshine State have led to a delay in the wet dress rehearsal for NASA’s Artemis II moon launch. 

Originally scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30, the dress rehearsal is now set to take place no earlier than Monday, Feb. 2. 

“Over the past several days, engineers have been closely monitoring conditions as cold weather and winds move through Florida,” NASA said.

“Managers have assessed hardware capabilities against the projected forecast given the rare arctic outbreak affecting the state and decided to change the timeline.” 

NASA said it will wait to set an official date for the 4-person space crew launch until after the wet dress rehearsal can happen. 

Meanwhile, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen set to debark on the journey remain in quarantine in Houston, NASA said. 

The space agency said the earliest possible date for the Artemis II launch would occur on Sunday, Feb. 8.

Artemis II takes place on the success of the crewless Artemis I launch in 2022. 

The 10-day mission will take four astronauts around the Moon, bringing humans closer to the moon than we’ve been in more than 50 years, NASA said. 

The Artemis II delay comes just days after the memorial of the tragic Challenger disaster on Jan. 28, 1986, when the Challenger’s 7-person crew died 73 seconds after liftoff due to an o-ring failure in the right solid rocket booster aggravated by extreme cold weather in Florida before the launch. 

NASA will continue monitoring weather conditions leading up to the dress rehearsal.