(Nasa)
Nasa has aborted its second moon rocket launch attempt after failing to fix a leak, delaying the Artemis 1 mission by more than a month. The space agency aimed to launch the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as part of the Artemis program that one day hopes to return humans to the lunar surface. But technical problems once again caused the launch to be postponed, five days after the first attempt was cleared. “A leak developed on the supply side of the 8-inch quick disconnect while attempting to transfer fuel to the rocket,” Nasa said, but has yet to give an update on when a new launch date will be set, though it could be as early as Sunday. If successful, the spacecraft will blast off from Earth and around the Moon, before heading back to our planet 42 days later. This time, the Orion crew capsule is empty – but if this trip is successful, then a trip with humans on board is to come.
Basic points
Show latest update 1662196421
Hello and welcome…
… on The Independent’s live coverage of Nasa’s Artemis launch. It is the second time it will attempt to return to the Moon, after major technical problems delayed a planned launch on Monday. Andrew Griffin September 3, 2022 10:13 am 1662199877
NASA has said that today’s launch is a “go”. That’s not to say we’ll definitely get one – any sort of technical or weather issues could lead to it being scrubbed – but everything is going as it should, for now. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 11:11 1662199961
The weather looks favorable – mostly
The weather doesn’t look likely to spoil today’s launch. The odds aren’t great – but they’re favorable, overall. You can read about NASA’s weather forecast here. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 11:12 1662201709
The weather is still fine
The weather is not good in Florida this morning. (But it’s good enough to start filling the rocket, which is now underway.) But things still look good for later. There is a 60% chance of favorable conditions when the window opens, which increases to 80% by the end of the launch window. Andrew Griffin September 3, 2022 11:41 am 1662204743
The Artemis launch was hit by its first major problem
The countdown clock has just begun, but there’s already a problem as engineers take a look at a liquid hydrogen leak that appeared as the rocket began to fill up. Here’s the latest update from Nasa: “Engineers detected a liquid hydrogen leak in a quick-detach cavity and stopped propellant flow to the main stage while they fixed the problems. The boot controllers try to heat up the quick disconnect to try to reseat it to seal tight. Liquid oxygen flow continues.” In short, this means that there is a leak in one of the attachments and the engineers are now trying to find out if they can fix it. The quick disconnect will take 30 minutes to warm up and can come back on and seal the leak afterwards. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 12:32 1662205679
The problem is similar to the one that completed the release last time
On Monday, the launch was withdrawn due to a hydrogen leak. Now there seems to be another. This comes from a different place – the quick disconnect at the heart of this problem has been good in all previous fills of the rocket. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 12:47 1662205826
The Moon rocket could explode without care
While we wait for updates, this piece by Jon Kelvey is worth revisiting – what’s at stake when Nasa ‘scraps’ a launch and what might happen if it didn’t? (Spoiler: a lot.) Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 12:50 1662208345
The leaking seal seems to have fixed itself
As the engineers had hoped, the leaky seal appears to have been sealed: hydrogen is flowing again. The engineers hoped that warming it up would force it back properly, and that seems to have happened. It is not yet clear what it will have in the launch window. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 13:32 1662210508
The leak was ultimately not fixed
As more hydrogen flows through the seal, it leaks again. The engineers are going to turn it off again and see if they can get the seal to go back into place. Again, this is all very unplanned. with a two-hour window, there is room for some delays, but not loads. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 14:08 1662211980
Fingers crossed as the engineers try again
With a major seal loose, the engineers have a plan: increase the pressure and hope that it puts the seal on the quick disconnect back where it should be, so the leak stops. That pressure has increased – and now it’s just a matter of crossing fingers and hoping the leak is fixed. Andrew Griffin3 September 2022 14:33
