[ad_1]
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
NASA’s Artemis II moon launch delayed after technical issues during rehearsal
Updated: 2:30 PM EST Feb 3, 2026
NASA’s Artemis II mission has been postponed to March following technical issues identified during a wet dress rehearsal. The mission was originally scheduled for launch this Sunday, Feb. 8. During the rehearsal on Monday, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak, according to NASA.The head of NASA, Jared Isaacman, announced on X around 2 a.m. that hydrogen leaks had been discovered during fueling of the tank. Beyond the liquid hydrogen leak, teams encountered several additional issues, including:A recently replaced valve for the Orion crew module hatch pressurization system required retorquing.Closeout operations took longer than planned.Cold weather affected several cameras and other equipment.Intermittent audio communication dropouts occurred across ground teams.A research chemist monitoring the process at the space center said NASA will need to figure out what was going wrong. NASA explained that the launch was mainly delayed to allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal. While the new launch window is set for March, there is no specific launch date yet.NASA held a news conference Tuesday at 1 p.m. to discuss the issues and the upcoming launch further.Watch the full conference below:
NASA’s Artemis II mission has been postponed to March following technical issues identified during a wet dress rehearsal.
The mission was originally scheduled for launch this Sunday, Feb. 8.
During the rehearsal on Monday, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak, according to NASA.
The head of NASA, Jared Isaacman, announced on X around 2 a.m. that hydrogen leaks had been discovered during fueling of the tank.
Beyond the liquid hydrogen leak, teams encountered several additional issues, including:
- A recently replaced valve for the Orion crew module hatch pressurization system required retorquing.
- Closeout operations took longer than planned.
- Cold weather affected several cameras and other equipment.
- Intermittent audio communication dropouts occurred across ground teams.
A research chemist monitoring the process at the space center said NASA will need to figure out what was going wrong.
NASA explained that the launch was mainly delayed to allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal.
While the new launch window is set for March, there is no specific launch date yet.
NASA held a news conference Tuesday at 1 p.m. to discuss the issues and the upcoming launch further.
Watch the full conference below:
[ad_2]
