NASA moon rocket faces more flight delays as repairs mount

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A string of failed fueling test failures has caused additional delays in NASA’s mega moon launch.

Officials saidMonday’s launch window will not be available until mid-June, so it will be difficult to get there. The end of June or July would be the next time an empty capsule could fly to the moon in a test flight.

Kennedy Space Center’s 30-story Space Launch System rocket is currently on the Kennedy Space Center pad. Next week, the rocket will be returning to the hangar for fuel leak and valve repairs. NASA couldn’t fill the rocket with fuel for its critical dress rehearsal due to these issues, which NASA discovered earlier in March.

It is likely that the rocket will spend several weeks in the hangar, before returning to the pad for testing. said launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

Managers look at various options to get their business back on track.

“It’s just a matter of what’s the right time, what’s the right way to do that,” saidTom Whitmeyer, NASA deputy associate administrator.

NASA would like to have this test flight completed before sending astronauts aboard for the second launch. The lunar flyaround is scheduled for 2024. NASA plans to launch a third mission in 2025 to attempt landing astronauts on board the moon, more than 50 years after its Apollo moonshots.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education supports the Associated Press Health and Science Department. All content is owned by the Associated Press.