Fuel leak; NASA’s 2nd shot at launching moon rocket fails
NASA’s new moon rocket sprang another hazardous leak on Saturday, as the launch team began fuelling it for liftoff on a test flight that must go well before astronauts climb aboard. For the second time this week, the launch team began loading nearly 1 million gallons of fuel into the 322-foot (98-metre) rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA.
Monday’s attempt was halted by a bad engine sensor and leaking fuel. If the five-week demo with test dummies succeeds, astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on it in 2025. People last walked on the moon 50 years ago.
Forecasters expected generally favourable weather at Kennedy Space Centre, especially toward the end of the two-hour afternoon launch window. The USD 4.1 billion test flight is the first step in NASA’s Artemis programme of renewed lunar exploration, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.
