Artemis I, the first mission in NASA’s ambitious program to get humans back to the moon, suffered an engine setback just hours before liftoff, forcing Monday morning’s launch to be scrubbed. The space agency will now target a backup window that opens on Friday, Sept. 2, at 9:48 a.m. PT (12:48 p.m. ET, 5:48 p.m. BST).
“To summarize, we held at T-minus 40 minutes and counting after the team was unable to get past an engine bleed that didn’t show the right temperature once they got into the engine bleed test,” NASA said Monday. “Ultimately the launch director has called a scrub for the day. The earliest opportunity, depending on what happens with this engine, would be Sept. 2, that is available to the launch team, however we will await a determination”
After a brief weather delay, things looked on track for Artemis I’s bright orange Space Launch System rocket, but a couple of technical hurdles arose during its fuel loading stage. Also, earlier in the day, NASA noted there was a “crack” in the thermal protection system material on one of the flanges of the SLS core stage, but it was later revealed to be a consequence of the super-chilled propellant, not a structural issue.
But later, as the rocket’s boosters were being filled with liquid oxygen, NASA engineers noted that engine 3 was “not properly being conditioned through the bleed process.” This process is meant to allow the engines to chill to the right temperature by releasing a small amount of the fuel. It wasn’t working. Back in June, during Artemis I’s wet dress rehearsal — which took four tries to complete — the team hoped to examine the efficacy of this bleed process, but didn’t get to it.
“This is something they wanted to test during wet dress four but were unable to,” NASA broadcaster Derrol Nail said during the agency’s livestream of the launch attempt. “So this was the first opportunity for the team to see this live in action. It’s a particularly tricky issue to get that temperature dialed in.”
Finally, about an hour after trying to troubleshoot the engine 3 bleed problem, the team met with launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson to discuss how to move forward. Soon, Artemis I’s launch was officially scrubbed.
“It’s just part of the space business — and particularly a test flight,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said after the delay was announced on Monday. “We are stressing and testing this rocket and spacecraft in a way that you would never do it with the human crew on board. That’s the purpose of a test flight.”
