NASA would need to extend that battery rating to about 40 days. However, making that window would necessitate fixing the rocket at the pad and then getting a waiver from the US Space Force, which operates the launch range along the Florida coast.Īt issue is the flight termination system, which is powered independently of the rocket, with batteries rated for 25 days. Alternatively, the engineers may decide the repairs are best performed inside the Vehicle Assembly Building and roll the rocket back inside.ĭue to the orbital dynamics of the Artemis I mission to fly an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the Moon, NASA will next have an opportunity to launch from September 19 to October 4. This may allow NASA to keep the vehicle on the pad ahead of the next launch. If the launch team decides it can replace the quick-disconnect hardware at the pad, it may be an option to perform a partial fueling test to determine the integrity of the fix. What comes next depends on what engineers and technicians find on Monday when they inspect the vehicle at the launch pad. Finally at 11:17 am ET, hours behind on their timeline to fuel the rocket, launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson called a halt.

Valiantly, the launch team at Kennedy Space Center tried three different times to stanch the leak, all to no avail. Further Reading The SLS rocket is the worst thing to happen to NASA-but maybe also the best?

Nasa space shuttle launch time