WASHINGTON, April 19, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - NASA's Space Launch System rocket is
heading back to its assembly building for repairs next week, pushing the
earliest possible launch date for its uncrewed test flight to the Moon to
later this summer, officials said Monday.

   Since April 1 the space agency has been unsuccessfully attempting a key
"wet dress rehearsal" test, so dubbed because it involves loading liquid
propellant.

   The procedure is meant as a run-through of launch operations, including a
final countdown to within ten seconds before blast off, but without actually
firing the engines.

   But NASA teams have encountered several technical hitches.

   These included a leak involving flammable liquid hydrogen, a faulty valve
that prevented fueling of the upper stage and running low on supply of
nitrogen that is used to purge oxygen from the rocket prior to tanking
operations, for safety reasons.

   The rocket, which is 322 feet (98 meters) tall with the Orion crew capsule
fixed on top, will begin its slow journey back from Kennedy Space Center's
Launch Complex 39B to the vehicle assembly building on April 26, where it
will be repaired.

   Asked what this might mean for the earliest opportunity to launch the
Artemis-1 test flight to the Moon and back, senior official Tom Whitmeyer
said: "I think the early June window would be challenging."

   NASA had previously envisaged a test flight as early as May.

   There are subsequent launch windows in July and in August. These depend on
factors like the relative positions of the Earth and Moon, as well as how
long the rocket will have to fly in an eclipse, since it requires the Sun to
keep it powered and thermally regulated.

   A delay in Artemis-1 will have a cascading effect on subsequent missions -
- Artemis-2, the first uncrewed test flight around the Moon, and Artemis-3,
which will see the first woman and first person of color touch down on the
lunar south pole.

   NASA wants to build a permanent presence on the Moon and use it as a
proving ground for technologies necessary for a Mars mission envisioned for
sometime in the 2030s.