Feb 21 • 18:52 UTC 🇬🇷 Greece Naftemporiki

Artemis 2: The highly anticipated launch of the mission around the Moon is postponed

The launch of the Artemis 2 mission has been postponed due to technical issues with the rocket, as announced by NASA's chief.

The Artemis 2 mission's launch has been postponed due to technical difficulties discovered in the rocket, which is slated to carry astronauts around the Moon for the first time in 50 years. NASA leader Jared Isaacman reported that the issues involve malfunction in the helium flow in one of the rocket's stages. Given this unexpected complication, NASA will have to transport the rocket back to its assembly building, which eliminates the possibility of launching in the previously targeted March window. Just yesterday, NASA had announced that it aimed for the earliest launch date of March 6, following a successful real-time test. However, the agency has now acknowledged that engineers will need a few days to analyze data collected from the previous tests and to verify the technical issues before proceeding. The delay has raised concerns about the timing of this historic mission which aims to return humans to lunar orbit. This postponement marks a setback in NASA's ambitious Artemis program, which is designed to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and eventually prepare for missions to Mars. The implications of this delay are not only technical but may also impact public and governmental support for these future exploratory missions. The Artemis 2 crew was expected to carry out vital experiments and pave the way for the planned Artemis 3 landing on the Moon, thus maintaining interest and investment in space exploration.

📡 Similar Coverage