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A12 SCIENCE
Tuesday 30 augusT 2022

NASA scrubs launch of new moon

rocket after engine problem

on Friday, Sarafin said, “We
really need time to look at
all the information, all the
data. We’re going to play
all nine innings here.”
Even though no one was
on board, thousands of
people jammed the coast
to see the rocket soar. Vice
President Kamala Harris
and Apollo 10 astronaut
Tom Stafford were among
the VIPs who arrived.
Assuming the shakedown
NASA’s new moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B minutes flight goes well, astronauts
after the launch was scrubbed, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in
Cape Canaveral, Fla. will climb aboard for the
Associated Press second Artemis mission
and fly around the moon
By MARCIA DUNN Sarafin said the fault did and back as soon as 2024.
AP Aerospace Writer not appear to be with the A two-person lunar landing
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. engine itself but with the could follow by the end of
(AP) — NASA called off the plumbing leading to it. 2025.
launch of its mighty new Complicating matters, as The problems seen Monday
moon rocket on its debut engineers were trying to were reminiscent of NASA’s
flight with three test dum- troubleshoot that problem space shuttle era, when hy-
mies aboard Monday af- on the launch pad, yet an- drogen fuel leaks disrupted
ter a last-minute cascade other hydrogen leak devel- countdowns and delayed
of problems culminating in oped, this one involving a a string of launches back in
unexplained trouble relat- vent valve higher up on the 1990.
ed to an engine. rocket, Sarafin said. Later in the morning, NASA
The next launch attempt “This is a very complicated also officials spotted what
will not take place until machine, a very compli- they feared was a crack
Friday at the earliest and cated system, and all those or some other defect on
could be delayed until things have to work, and the core stage — the big
mid-September or later. you don’t want to light the orange fuel tank with four
The mission will be the first candle until it’s ready to main engines on it — but
flight in NASA’s Artemis go,” said NASA Administra- they later said it appeared
project, a quest to put as- tor Bill Nelson. to be just a buildup of frost
tronauts back on the moon Referring to launch delays, in a crevice of the insulat-
for the first time since the he said: “It’s just part of the ing foam.
Apollo program ended 50 space business and it’s part Launch director Charlie
years ago. of, particularly, a test flight.” Blackwell-Thompson and
As precious minutes ticked The rocket was set to lift off her team also had to deal
away Monday morning, on a flight to propel a crew with sluggish communica-
NASA repeatedly stopped capsule into orbit around tion between the Orion
and started the fueling of the moon. The six-week mis- capsule and launch con-
the Space Launch System sion was scheduled to end trol. The problem required
rocket because of a leak with the capsule returning what turned out to be a
of highly explosive hydro- to Earth in a splashdown in simple fix.
gen, eventually succeed- the Pacific in October. Even if there had been no
ing in reducing the seep- The 322-foot (98-meter) technical snags, thunder-
age. The leak happened spaceship is the most pow- storms ultimately would
in the same place that saw erful rocket ever built by have prevented a liftoff,
seepage during a dress re- NASA, out-muscling even NASA said.
hearsal in the spring. the Saturn V that took the Dark clouds and rain gath-
The fueling already was run- Apollo astronauts to the ered over the launch site
ning nearly an hour late be- moon. as soon as the countdown
cause of thunderstorms off The dummies inside the Ori- was halted, and thunder
Florida’s Kennedy Space on capsule were fitted with echoed across the coast.q
Center. sensors to measure vibra-
Then, NASA ran into new tion, cosmic radiation and
trouble when it was unable other conditions during the
to properly chill one of the shakedown flight, meant to
rocket’s four main engines, stress-test the spacecraft
officials said. Engineers and push it to its limits in
struggled to pinpoint the ways that would never be
source of the problem well attempted if humans were
after the launch postpone- aboard.
ment was announced. Asked about the possibility
Mission manager Mike of another launch attempt facebook.com/arubatoday/