For the second time this week, the launch team began loading nearly 1 million gallons of fuel into the 98-meter-long rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA. Monday’s effort was halted due to a bad engine sensor and a fuel leak. As the sun rose, an overpressure alarm sounded and the refueling operation was briefly halted, but no damage occurred and the effort continued, NASA’s Launch Control said. NASA wants to send the crew capsule atop the rocket around the moon, pushing it to the limit before the astronauts board the next flight. If the five-week demonstration with test dummies is successful, astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on it in 2025. Humans last walked on the moon 50 years ago. Forecasters expected generally favorable weather at the Kennedy Space Center, especially toward the end of the two-hour afternoon launch. At the same time, the rocket’s chief engineers expressed confidence in tighter fuel lines and process changes. On Monday, a sensor indicated that one of the four engines was too hot, but engineers later confirmed that it was actually quite cold. The launch team planned to ignore the faulty sensor this time and rely on other instruments to ensure each main engine was properly cooled. Before ignition, the main engines must be as cold as the liquid hydrogen fuel flowing into them at minus-420 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-250 degrees Celsius). If not, the resulting damage could result in sudden engine shutdown and aborted flight. Mission managers acknowledged the added risk of the engine issue as well as a separate problem: cracks in the rocket’s insulating foam. However, they acknowledged that other problems could cause another delay. That didn’t stop thousands from jamming the coast to watch the Space Launch System rocket soar. Local authorities were expecting huge crowds due to the long Labor Day holiday weekend. The $4.1 billion test flight is the first step in NASA’s Artemis program for renewed lunar exploration, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology. Twelve astronauts walked on the moon during NASA’s Apollo program, the last time in 1972. Artemis — years behind schedule and billions over budget — aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, with crews eventually spending weeks there at a time. It is considered training for Mars.
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