The Artemis II hearing flight is postponed, the departure will be attempted at the beginning of March

Hearing flight Artemis II is postponed until early March. The departure date was already planned for Sunday, February 8.

However, problems appeared during the start practice over the weekend and on Monday. Among other things, there were problems with the moon rocket in the fuel supply.

Liquid hydrogen leaked in the area where the fuel was directed to the launch vehicle.

Hydrogen the flow had to be stopped from time to time and the seals had to be opened and closed. The problems delayed the dress rehearsal.

In addition, unusually cold weather for Florida affected cameras and other equipment.

They might have required too much attention on February 8, i.e. the day of the launch, said the space administration Nasa in his statement on Tuesday.

In addition, the engineers had already noticed that the sound was interrupted on the radio channels of various technician groups.

Artemis II has already been transferred from NASA’s huge From the VAB assembly hall for departure to launch pad 39 B. It is located off the coast of Florida at the Kennedy Space Center.

The launch vehicles will only receive the go-ahead after the general exercise has gone flawlessly.

Refueling is one of the important tests. Now air traffic control and engineers are studying the data from the general exercise. The exercise will be repeated soon.

Artemis II had two more opportunities in February. They were the 10th and 11th. However, NASA decided to postpone the departure to the beginning of March.

The departure dates of the lunar rocket are determined by the current position of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth in relation to Florida.

In March, Artemis II can leave for the Moon on days 6-9 and again on March 11.

Then there is an opportunity to leave on April 1, 3-6. and April 30, says website Space.com.

Rockets departures move quite often. Defects and malfunctions are usually found in the fuel distribution and the launch vehicle’s valves.

Artemis II’s predecessor, Artemis I, for example, could leaving in November 2022 only after four exercises.

The lunar rocket Artemis II is scheduled to take four astronauts into orbit around the Moon. Astronauts would be then the first humans near the Moon in over 53 years.