Engineers working on the Space Launch System encountered a repressurization problem in the rocket's upper stage helium system, and managers said the vehicle must roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for troubleshooting.
The nasa artemis rocket launch will not proceed from the pad while technicians access hardware in the VAB, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a post on the social media platform X, and preparations for rollback are underway.
Isaacman added that the ICPS helium bottles are used to purge engines and to pressurize the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks, and that those systems had worked correctly during earlier wet dress rehearsals, but the team was unable to get helium flow through the vehicle during the most recent operations.
NASA completed a second fueling test and countdown, loading the SLS with more than 750,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel, and managers had noted the countdown reached T-29 seconds at the end of the second terminal countdown demonstration.
Mission Status Background And Crew Implications
The Artemis II mission will carry four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS to fly around the Moon and return, a flight intended to thoroughly test the Orion capsule and pave the way for a future lunar landing mission called Artemis 3.
The crew named for the flight are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA materials note the mission will return the first woman, first person of color and first Canadian to lunar orbit on this campaign.
The rocket had earlier been delayed after hydrogen leaks discovered during an initial wet dress rehearsal forced managers to step back, and a successful second tanking run without leaks prompted plans for a launch attempt before the recent helium problem arose.
The four astronauts had entered pre-flight medical quarantine and were preparing to travel to the launch site, but NASA said they will leave quarantine to await developments now that rollback is required and the current launch period is no longer under consideration.
Officials emphasized that accessing and remediating the helium flow issue can only be done in the VAB, and teams will perform the necessary inspections and repairs there before returning the vehicle to the pad for another launch attempt.
