"NASA is preparing to remove its massive moon rocket from its launchpad to fix a technical issue, delaying the agency's much-anticipated mission to send a crew of four around the moon. On Saturday, NASA announced that it planned to roll back the rocket, the Boeing-built Space Launch System, to its hangar at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to fix a problem found in the upper portion of the vehicle."
"NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said the work needed to fix the problem could only be done at the giant Vehicle Assembly Building hangar at KSC. He also noted that a similar helium issue had cropped up on the SLS's first flight back in 2022. "I understand people are disappointed by this development," Isaacman wrote in a statement on X. "That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor.""
NASA will roll back the Boeing-built Space Launch System to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center to repair an interruption in helium flow found in the rocket's upper portion. The helium supply is required for launch operations and a similar issue occurred on the SLS first flight in 2022. The rollback eliminates the previously targeted March 6 Artemis II launch, pushing the earliest opportunity to April. Artemis II will carry a crew of four around the moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years. Engineers conducted a propellant dress rehearsal before finding the helium problem.
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