Hydrogen leak forces multi-week delay for Artemis moon rocket

NASA's star-crossed Space Launch System moon rocket was grounded for the second time in five days Saturday, this time by a large hydrogen leak in a fuel line quick-disconnect fitting that will delay the $4.1 billion booster's maiden flight by several weeks, likely into October.

While the VAB would provide shelter from the weather and would not require assembly of an environment enclosure to protect sensitive components during the repair work, engineers would not be able to test the fitting with cryogenic hydrogen. And that's when leaks are most likely to show up. "This is an incredibly hard business," said Artemis 1 mission manager Mike Sarafin."Our focus is on understanding the problem. ... We'll follow up next week when we have those options flushed out further."

It's not yet clear what caused the leak, but Sarafin said a valve was inadvertently cycled during the initial moments of the fuel loading operation, briefly over pressurizing the lines and the quick-disconnect fitting. The Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B Monday during fueling for its maiden test flight. The rocket was grounded by a hydrogen leak in the system that delivers propellant to the first stage tanks.The goal of the Artemis 1 mission is to boost an unpiloted Orion capsule into a distant orbit around the moon, testing the spacecraft in the deep space environment before returning it to Earth for a high-speed, high-temperature re-entry.

Complicating the planning, flight planners want to avoid putting the solar-powered spacecraft in the moon's shadow for extended periods and they want to ensure a daylight splashdown.

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