Here's why the Artemis 1 launch was scrubbed Monday
NASA's first attempt to launch the Artemis 1 moon rocket from Florida hit a few snags during the countdown causing mission managers to scrub the launch.
Artemis 1 launch scrubbed due to technical issues
NASA officials confirm the Artemis 1 launch scheduled for Monday morning has been postponed due to technical issues. FOX Weather's Brandy Campbell has the latest.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – From issues with a leaky engine to storms surrounding Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Artemis 1 launch director was forced to scrub Monday's attempt to put the Space Launch System rocket into space.
NASA's first attempt to launch the Artemis 1 moon rocket from Florida hit a few snags during the countdown causing mission managers to scrub the launch.
Thousands of people have contributed to the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft test flight, more than a decade in the making.
The SLS and the uncrewed Orion spacecraft were scheduled to blast off from KSC launchpad 39B on Monday during a 2-hour window opening at 8:33 a.m. ET.
The weather was an issue early in the countdown, delaying the fueling for about an hour due to lightning in the area, but later technical issues would ultimately cause the delay.
Next availability for Artemis 1 launch is Friday
The next availability for the Artemis 1 launch is on Friday, September 2nd at 12:47 p.m.
Fueling began on NASA's Artemis 1 rocket at 1:14 a.m. Monday beginning the careful process of loading 700,000 pounds of cryogenic fuel into the 322-foot-tall rocket. After the weather delay, Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave crews the go-ahead to continue loading propellants into the Space Launch System rocket.
A hold in the countdown was called for a possible liquid hydrogen leak, which was resolved but more issues continued to come up throughout the countdown under 1 hour to the original launch time, NASA said one of the four RS-25 engines was not coming to temperature and engineer teams worked to find a solution.
The countdown entered a hold around 7:30 a.m. as engineers tried to resolve the issue of getting all four RS-25 to temperature, but the hold never lifted, and the Blackwell-Thompson made the call to scrub the launch attempt.
Artemis 1 mission managers announced Tuesday that teams are preparing for a second attempt to launch the Space Launch System rocket during a 120-minute window opening at 2:17 p.m. on Sept. 3.