NASA’s new lunar rocket had another dangerous leak Saturday as the launch team began fueling it for liftoff on a test flight.
For the second time this week, the most powerful rocket ever built began loading nearly a million gallons of fuel.
Last Monday’s attempt was stopped by a faulty engine sensor and a fuel leak. As the sun rose, an overpressure alarm sounded and the tanking operation was briefly halted, but no damage was done and work resumed.
Minutes later hydrogen fuel began to leak from the engine section at the bottom of the rocket. NASA halted the operation as engineers scrambled to plug what was believed to be a gap around a seal in the supply line.
NASA wants to send the crew capsule on the rocket around the moon. If the five-week dummy test is successful, astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on the moon in 2025. The last time man walked on the moon was fifty years ago.
On Monday, hydrogen fuel leaked from another part of the rocket. Technicians tightened the connections, but launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson stressed that she wouldn’t know if everything was tight until fueling on Saturday. A sensor indicated that one of the rocket’s four motors was too hot, but engineers later verified that it was actually cool enough.
The launch team planned to ignore the faulty sensor and rely on other instruments to make sure each main engine cooled properly. Before igniting, the main engines must be as cold as the liquid hydrogen fuel flowing into them at -420 degrees Fahrenheit (minus -250 degrees Celsius). Otherwise, the damage could lead to abrupt engine shutdown and aborted flight.
The test flight is the first step in NASA’s Artemis program of renewed lunar exploration, named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology.
The project aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon, with crews spending weeks there. It’s a training ground for flights to Mars.
Associated Press/OnCuba.
