NASA Scraps Artemis I Launch Over Technical Troubles

NASA will return to the moon another day.

The launch of Artemis I, the space agency’s newest rocket, was postponed Monday after engine problems, halting the first mission to the moon in 50 years.

The 322-foot-tall Artemis, which include the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft, was supposed to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Monday morning and had been on track all weekend.

But weather delays hit around midnight when the team was supposed to begin fueling the rocket, and around 4 a.m., scientists discovered a liquid hydrogen leak.

By 6:30 a.m. Monday, just two hours before the first window for liftoff, engineers were already scrambling to diagnose engine problems and the whole day was scrapped just before 9 a.m.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff were supposed to be at the launch pad to watch. Celebrity appearances from Jack Black, Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock and Yo-Yo Ma were also planned.

“This is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

The launch will not be rescheduled until Friday at the earliest.

When Artemis eventually takes off, Orion will spend 42 days and 1.3 million miles traveling to the moon, circling it and then returning to Earth, where it will crash down into the Pacific Ocean outside of San Diego.

On board the spacecraft will be three mannequins, Commander Moonkin Campos, Helga and Zohar, to measure deep space radiation and test a new suit and shielding technology, a plush Snoopy doll to confirm zero gravity and a garden of seeds, algae, fungi and yeast to help test the radiation.

Humans will not board the rocket until Artemis II and Artemis III launch, planned for 2024 and 2025 respectively.