NASA’s crewed Artemis II launch gets pushed back again, this time due to a helium issue

It appears a March launch for Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed trip around the Moon since the last Apollo mission 50 years ago, is now out of the question. While preparations continue at the Kennedy Space Center It will be launched on March 6, space agency He said he encountered a problem with the flow of helium to the upper stage of the SLS rocket this weekend and now needs to return the rocket from the launch pad to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to figure out what the problem is and fix it. A media briefing is planned for this week to discuss the issue and what happens next.

But in a post on X NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman It confirmed that the rollback would “take the March launch window out of consideration.” NASA noted on its blog that the current effort “potentially preserves the April launch window, the outcome of data findings, repair efforts, and how the program will come to fruition in the coming days and weeks.” It’s a four-mile return trip to the VAB that will take hours to carefully transport the massive rocket and Orion spacecraft. NASA says it is targeting February 24 for this walk.

The problem occurred in the early hours of February 21, the night NASA said it observed “the helium flow to the transient cryogenic propulsion stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket was disrupted.” space agency explained:

The upper stage uses helium to maintain suitable environmental conditions for the stage’s engine and to pressurize liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant tanks. The systems worked during NASA’s Artemis II wet dress rehearsals, but crews were unable to properly flow helium during normal operations and rebuilds following the wet dress rehearsal, which ended Feb. 19. Operators use a backup method to maintain environmental conditions for the upper stage engines and rocket, which remain in a safe configuration.

The Artemis II crew (Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist) had gone into quarantine the day before the problem arose. NASA says the astronauts have since been released from quarantine.

Earlier this year, NASA announced an accelerated timeline for Artemis II. Set for April 2026 after experiencing Delays in 2024. For this 10-day mission, which will be the first crewed flight of the SLS rocket, Artemis II astronauts will take a trip around the moon with the Orion spacecraft. While in the beginning targeted for early FebruaryThe launch was: pushed to March due to problems that arose during a wet dress rehearsal. Now we’re back to square one with a possible April launch, but that will depend on the quickness of the fix.