x

Science

NASA Moon Rocket Faces More Flight Delays as Repairs Mount

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The flight debut of NASA’s mega moon rocket faces additional delays following a string of failed fueling tests.

Officials said Monday it will be challenging to meet a launch window in early to mid-June. The next opportunity to send an empty capsule to the moon on a test flight would be at the end of June or July.

The 30-story Space Launch System rocket has been on the pad at Kennedy Space Center for the past month. It will return to the hangar next week for valve and fuel leak repairs. The problems cropped up earlier this month, preventing NASA from filling the rocket’s fuel tanks for a critical dress rehearsal.

The rocket will likely spend weeks in the hangar before heading back to the pad for a testing redo, said launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

Managers are considering various options for getting back on track.

“It’s just a matter of what’s the right time, what’s the right way to do that,” said Tom Whitmeyer, a NASA deputy associate administrator.

NASA wants this test flight under its belt before putting astronauts on board for the second launch, a lunar flyaround targeted for 2024. The third mission would attempt to land astronauts on the moon around 2025, more than a half-century after NASA’s Apollo moonshots,

RELATED

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Lake sturgeon don't need Endangered Species Act protections, federal wildlife officials announced Monday, saying that stocking programs have helped the prehistoric fish return to areas where they had vanished.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

A Palestinian Baby in Gaza is Born an Orphan in an Urgent Cesarean Section after an Israeli Strike

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

VENTURA, CA – Greek-American George Christie was featured on Fox News Digital (FND) for his time in the Hells Angels, recounting the moment he decided to quit the motorcycle club he had formerly led.

NICOSIA - The suspending of asylum applications from Syrian refugees on Cyprus has now been followed by President Nikos Christodoulides saying the island country that’s a member of the European Union can’t take any more in.

WASHINGTON - Although human rights groups have chided Greece’s record in dealing with refugees and migrants, alleging pushbacks the government denied happened, the US State Department said Greece’s record is essentially status quo.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.