Potential Delay in Artemis II Launch Due to Helium Flow Interruption
NASA announced on Saturday that it is considering rolling back the Artemis II rocket launch following the discovery of an interrupted helium flow. This development comes just one day after the agency had set a target launch date of 6 March for the mission involving astronauts circling the moon.
In a blog post, NASA detailed that it is preparing to move the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency acknowledged that this action will likely affect the planned March launch window.
“This will almost assuredly impact the March launch window,” NASA said.
The issue was identified overnight when NASA observed an interrupted flow of helium in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. The flow of helium is essential for the launch process.
Previously, on Friday, NASA had announced the 6 March target date for launching four astronauts on the Artemis II mission, which aims to send them around the moon and back. This announcement followed the successful completion of a fueling test, which had caused a temporary stand-down earlier in the month.
The Artemis II crew consists of four astronauts: three Americans—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch—and one Canadian, Jeremy Hansen. On Friday, they began a second quarantine period in preparation for the new target launch date. NASA noted that the date was announced “with caveats,” emphasizing that significant preparatory work remained after Thursday’s fueling test.
NASA has multiple potential launch dates available in early March for Artemis II. The mission will last approximately 10 days, during which the crew will travel around the moon but will not land. This flight will carry humans farther into space than ever before. According to NASA, the mission will travel about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) beyond the far side of the moon, surpassing the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. Artemis II will test systems critical for future deep-space exploration.
The Artemis II mission serves as preparation for Artemis III, scheduled for 2028, which aims to achieve the first human landing on the moon since the final Apollo program mission in December 1972.
Richard Luscombe contributed reporting.
