Fuel Leak Aborts NASA’s Second Attempt to Launch Artemis I Rocket

NASA’s second attempt to launch the Artemis I moon rocket on Saturday was canceled after Launch Controllers were unable to repair a hydrogen leak. The first launch attempt was last week and was scrubbed on account of an engine issue. The next window of opportunity for the launch is early next week. If that does not work out, NASA will have to wait until October for another chance to get their latest space operation off the ground.

"The #Artemis I mission to the Moon has been postponed," the NASA Twitter page announced, "teams attempted to fix an issue related to a leak in the hardware transferring fuel into the rocket, but were unsuccessful."

The Artemis missions are NASA’s planned return to the Moon. NASA aims to establish a presence on the Moon for the first time since the 1970s, with the hope of building towards future manned missions to Mars. The planned missions will incorporate commercial and international partners. This first mission plans to send the Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful rocket ever built, and the empty Orion capsule around the moon.

The canceled launch was covered mildly and consistently across the spectrum on Saturday, less prominently than the first attempt.