2 min learnFeb 4, 2026 09:23 AM IST
NASA pushed its Artemis II mission to March after wrapping up a launch rehearsal that uncovered points with the huge House Launch System rocket’s fueling course of, the newest delay for the mission to fly 4 astronauts across the moon and again.
The U.S. house company had been planning to launch the 4 Artemis II astronauts someday this month, pending the end result of a 49-hour launch countdown rehearsal in Florida at NASA’s Kennedy House Heart. The earliest launch alternative in that window was February 8.
“With the conclusion of the moist costume rehearsal right this moment (Tuesday), we’re shifting off the February launch window and concentrating on March for the earliest doable launch of Artemis II,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated in a press release.
“With greater than three years between SLS launches, we totally anticipated encountering challenges. That’s exactly why we conduct a moist costume rehearsal,” Isaacman stated.
A moist costume rehearsal refers to a ultimate prelaunch simulation during which the rocket is totally loaded with liquid propellant and undergoes a countdown however doesn’t truly launch.
Throughout the rehearsal, one of many rocket’s propellants, liquid hydrogen, was leaking by tiny fittings of what’s basically a big hose that pumps the gas into SLS, NASA stated.
The deliberate Artemis II crew consists of three U.S. astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – and a Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen. The mission is poised to be the furthest human flight into house ever, and the primary crewed moon mission for the reason that U.S. Apollo program extra than half a century in the past.
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Artemis II is a precursor to NASA’s deliberate astronaut moon touchdown with Artemis III, which is scheduled for 2028. That mission additionally makes use of NASA’s House Launch System rocket, with the Orion astronaut capsule sitting on high, although SpaceX’s Starship will be used as a moon lander for the primary time.