NASA’s Artemis II moon launch delayed after technical issues during rehearsal

MINUTES. SANIKA ALL RIGHT. SLOWLY BUT SURELY. THAWING OUT HERE. CAM. WELL, LET’S TALK ABOUT A MAJOR SETBACK FOR NASA IN THE QUEST TO GO BACK TO THE MOON. THESE ARE LIVE PICTURES FROM PAT 39, WHERE THE ARTEMIS TWO MISSION WILL REMAIN GROUNDED FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER MONTH. WE BROKE THE NEWS ON SUNRISE AFTER NASA CHIEF JARED ISAACMAN MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVERNIGHT. AS WE REPORTED YESTERDAY, CREWS WERE WORKING THROUGH A NUMBER OF ISSUES DURING DRESS REHEARSAL, BUT WE’LL NOW NEED MORE TIME TO FIX THE ROCKET IN ORDER TO LAUNCH WESH TWO. MEGHAN MORIARTY IS LIVE AT KSC, WHERE NASA IS EXPECTED TO GIVE US AN UPDATE IN LESS THAN AN HOUR NOW. MEGHAN, ALL EYES ON THIS. AT 1:00, NASA MISSION SPECIALISTS ARE EXPECTED TO BREAK DOWN WHAT HAPPENED DURING WET DRESS REHEARSAL. THE CHALLENGES THAT THEY HAD THERE, AS WELL AS WHAT’S NEXT FOR ARTEMIS TWO. NOW THAT WET DRESS REHEARSAL, WE HAVE BEEN EXPLAINING IT TO YOU FOR DAYS, BUT JUST A REMINDER, IT’S THAT CRITICAL TEST THAT IS A SIMULATED LAUNCH AND PRACTICE COUNTDOWN AHEAD OF THE REAL DEAL. AND IT’S DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY PROBLEMS GIVING NASA A CHANCE TO FIX THINGS BEFORE THE LAUNCH, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE’RE DOING HERE. NASA SAYS THEY PUSHED THROUGH SEVERAL CHALLENGES DURING THE TWO DAY TEST THAT STARTED MONDAY AND WENT INTO THIS MORNING, ADDING THAT THEY MET MANY OF THE PLANNED OBJECTIVES. BUT TEAMS DID ACTUALLY DETECT THAT HYDROGEN LEAK PRETTY EARLY INTO FUELING. THEY DID PUSH THROUGH, BUT ULTIMATELY DETERMINED THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE TOO BIG OF A RISK TO CONTINUE. NOW, HYDROGEN LEAKS, THOUGH THEY’RE NOT UNCOMMON. WELL, IT SHOWS THEY’RE IN A VERY PRECARIOUS SITUATION. HYDROGEN IS INSIDIOUS. IT’S THE SMALLEST MOLECULE. IT CAN EASILY LEAK. THIS CAUSED MANY ISSUES DURING THE ARTEMIS ONE COUNTDOWN. ARTEMIS ONE WAS THAT UNCREWED TEST FLIGHT IN 2022, AND IT ALSO SUFFERED SUFFERED HYDROGEN LEAKS DURING TESTING, WHICH DELAYED ITS LAUNCH DATE. NOW, WHILE TEAMS DETECTED THAT LEAK EARLY ENOUGH, THEY ALWAYS EXPECT A SMALL AMOUNT OF HYDROGEN THAT WILL BE RELEASED DURING THIS PROCESS, ESCAPING SOME OF THOSE SEALS. BECAUSE IT’S SUCH A SMALL MOLECULE. HOWEVER, AS THEY WENT THROUGH THAT TESTING, THEY REALIZED THAT IT WOULD EXCEED NASA’S SAFETY LIMIT. SO NOW THEY’RE TARGETING A LAUNCH IN MARCH. AGAIN, THAT NEWS CONFERENCE IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN AT 1:00. WE’LL NOT ONLY BE STREAMING IT ON WESH.COM, BUT WE WILL BRING YOU THE UPDATES STARTING ON WESH 2 NEW