NASA aced out of a potential disaster on Saturday calling off the launch of an uncrewed debut test flight of its Moon-to-Mars Artemis programme due to a leak of rocket propellant.

Preflight operations were scrapped around three hours before the 2:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT) liftoff time targeted of the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The countdown was terminated owing to a “large” leak of supercooled liquid hydrogen propellant that was being pumped into the rocket's core-stage fuel tanks and the failure of Kennedy Space Center technicians to fix seal it, the agency said. The stage was set for the SLS and Orion to make a grand return a half century after the last lunar mission of Apollo, the forerunner of the Artemis programme, made it to the natural satellite’s surface. This was the second time in a week that the launch was delayed. The first try fell on Monday but it too was foiled by technical issues, including a different leaky fuel line, a faulty temperature sensor and cracks found in insulation foam. Having sorted out the initial impediments, mission managers went on to give the launch another shot on Saturday. However, the said new leakage thwarted their plans, again. There is a third launch slot prepared by NASA, namely for Monday or Tuesday. A review of data from the latest malfunctions, however, prompted NASA to conclude the hydrogen leak was too complex and time-consuming to finish troubleshooting and fix it on the launch pad before the current launch period allotted to the mission expires on Tuesday. The delay translates into postponing the launch to the next period that runs September 19-30, or during a subsequent October window, an associate NASA administrator, Jim Free, told reporters at a late-afternoon briefing. For now, the spacecraft would be rolled off the launch pad and put back into its assembly building at some point, Mr Free said, explaining that space centre “range” rules limited how long a rocket may remain at the tower before liftoff. But in general, launch-day delays and technical shortcomings are par for the course in the space business. This pertains especially to new rockets such as NASA's Space Launch System which boast complex systems fitted with pre-liftoff procedures that have yet to be fully tested and rehearsed by engineers without a hitch. The odds of scrubbing a launch on any given day for any reason, including foul weather, are on average about one-in-three. The over-a-decade-old development programme has been fraught with years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns under NASA's respective SLS and Orion contracts with Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp. What is Artemis space programme? NASA’s ambitions with its Artemis programme are big and rest on three pillars, namely “discovery”, “economic opportunity” and “inspiration for a new generation”. Unlike its predecessor Apollo, Artemis, named after the former’s godly twin sister featured in ancient Greek mythology, is more science- and discovery-driven, while the six missions that placed humans on the moon between 1969 and 1972 were more of a muscle-flex in the US Cold War race against the Soviets. “We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars,” reads NASA’s official Artemis programme website. The programme is also a major turning point for NASA's post-Apollo human spaceflight programme after decades focused on low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station. There is also a social aspect of the lunar endeavour, namely, landing “the first woman and first person of color on the Moon”. These astronauts are scheduled to make a touchdown on the Moon as early as 2025, albeit many experts believe that the deadline is liable to delays. Among commercial partners who cast in their lot with NASA on Artemis are SpaceX and the space agencies of Europe, Canada and Japan. The goal is to eventually establish a long-term lunar base of operations as a stepping stone to even more ambitious human voyages to Mars.

00-999 Warszawa ul. J.P. Woronicza 17