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Fuel leak detected 4 times during preparations for NASA rocket launch
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NASA's new moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B hours ahead of a planned launch at the Kennedy Space Center, U.S., September 3, 2022. /CFP
As NASA on Saturday resumed its second effort to get its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket off the ground and send its uncrewed test capsule toward the moon, a liquid hydrogen leak had been detected four times in the first five hours of the propellant loading operations, which potentially could lead to a new delay, NASA revealed on its website.
For the second time this week, the launch team began loading nearly 1 million gallons of fuel into the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA. The agency's first attempt on Monday was halted by a bad engine sensor and leaking fuel.
On Monday, hydrogen fuel escaped from elsewhere in the rocket. Even more of a problem on Monday, a sensor indicated one of the rocket's four engines was too warm, but engineers later verified it actually was cold enough. The launch team planned to ignore the faulty sensor this time around and rely on other instruments to ensure each main engine was properly chilled.
Before igniting, the main engines need to be as frigid as the liquid hydrogen fuel flowing into them at minus-420 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-250 degrees Celsius). If not, the resulting damage could lead to an abrupt engine shutdown and aborted flight.
NASA wants to send the crew capsule atop the rocket around the moon, pushing it to the limit before astronauts get on the next flight. If the five-week demo with test dummies succeeds, astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on it in 2025.
(With input from AP)
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466