After working around a hydrogen leak, NASA pressed ahead with a “wet dress” rehearsal countdown of its Artemis II moon rocket Monday, loading the huge rocket with more than 750,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel, only to be derailed by additional leakage early Tuesday.As a result, NASA said it was postponing an attempted launch of a crewed spacecraft on a flight around the moon and back using the rocket until next month at the earliest.Already running several hours behind schedule, the countdown resumed at the T-minus 10-minute mark around 12:09 a.m. EST Tuesday, ticking down toward a simulated engine start.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut four-and-a-half minutes later, the countdown stopped again due to a “liquid hydrogen leak at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical, which had experienced high concentrations of liquid hydrogen earlier in the countdown,” NASA said on social media.The Space Launch System rocket’s mobile launch platform is equipped with two tail service masts, large side-by-side structures at the base of rocket that house propellant lines leading to pull-away umbilical assemblies on a side of the booster’s engine compartment.”The launch control team is working to ensure the SLS rocket is in a safe configuration and (to) begin draining its tanks,” NASA said.The agency said in a blog post early Tuesday that, “To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA now will target March as the earliest possible launch opportunity for the flight test.”AdvertisementAdvertisement”Moving off a February launch window also means the Artemis II astronauts will be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on Jan. 21. As a result, they will not travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday as tentatively planned. Crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks out from the next targeted launch opportunity,” NASA added.The agency only had three days — Feb. 8, 10 and 11 — to propel four astronauts on a flight around the moon and back this month.Hydrogen leaks have proven extremely difficult to repair at the launch pad, and a Super Bowl Sunday launch appears unlikely unless managers conclude the leak is manageable as is. But no final decisions on a path forward are …
