NASA to start slow-moving process returning moon rocket to hangar this week

2 hours ago 5

Grounded until astatine slightest April, NASA's elephantine satellite rocket is headed backmost to the hangar this week for much repairs before astronauts ascent aboard.

The abstraction bureau said Sunday it's targeting Tuesday for the slow, four-mile trek crossed Kennedy Space Center, upwind permitting.

"The speedy enactment to statesman preparations for rolling the rocket and spacecraft backmost to the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) perchance preserves the April motorboat window, pending the result of information findings, repair efforts, and however the docket comes to fruition successful the coming days and weeks," the abstraction bureau said successful a connection connected Sunday.

NASA had hardly finished a repeat fueling test Thursday, to guarantee unsafe hydrogen substance leaks were plugged, erstwhile different occupation cropped up.

This time, the rocket's helium strategy malfunctioned, further delaying astronauts' archetypal travel to the satellite successful much than fractional a century.

Engineers had conscionable tamed the hydrogen leaks and settled connected a March 6 motorboat day — already a period precocious — erstwhile the helium contented arose. The helium travel to the rocket's precocious signifier was disrupted; helium is needed to purge the engines and pressurize the substance tanks.

"Returning to the Vehicle Assembly Building astatine Kennedy is required to find the origin of the contented and hole it," NASA said successful a statement.

NASA said the speedy rollback preps sphere an April motorboat attempt, but stressed that volition beryllium connected however the repairs go. The abstraction bureau has lone a fistful of days immoderate fixed period to motorboat the unit of 4 astir the satellite and back.

The Artemis II ngo aims to send four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — connected a formation astir the acold broadside of the satellite and backmost to thoroughly trial the agency's Orion heavy abstraction capsule to assistance wide the mode for a lunar landing mission, Artemis III, successful 2028.

The unit members were released from quarantine connected Saturday and stay successful Houston, NASA said successful a statement. They volition go the archetypal radical to alert to the satellite since NASA's Apollo programme that sent 24 astronauts determination from 1968 done 1972.

In: