Artemis II moves closer to liftoff as NASA tests countdown post repairs

NASA has begun another practice launch countdown for its first crewed moonshot in decades after making repairs to fix dangerous fuel leaks that have already pushed the Artemis II flight into March.

The first fuelling test was halted two weeks ago by liquid hydrogen leaks similar to those that disrupted the Artemis programme's inaugural uncrewed flight three years ago.

Launch teams replaced a pair of seals and a clogged filter at the Kennedy Space Center pad where the giant rocket stands before restarting the countdown.

The two-day test is set to culminate on Thursday with an attempted fill-up of the rocket's fuel tanks.

The four Artemis II astronauts are monitoring the crucial dress rehearsal from afar.

A successful, leak-free test is required before NASA sets a launch date.

The earliest the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket could lift off is March 6.

The spacecraft is not equipped for a lunar landing, a NASA spokesperson confirmed, and the crew will instead journey around the far side of the moon.

Artemis II’s flyby will be followed by Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17, currently scheduled no earlier than mid-2027.

Officials had considered moving the date forward by three days, but said additional time is needed to analyse fuelling test results.

Artemis II is planned as a 10-day mission carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

It will mark the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA recently rolled out the towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, moving them 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) to Launch Pad 39B to begin preparations for the mission.

There is a chance they could exceed the distance record set by Apollo 13, becoming the farthest humans from Earth in history.

The last time astronauts journeyed to the Moon was during NASA's Apollo programme more than five decades ago.

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Source: TRT