If at this point someone tells you that NASA has delayed the mission again Artemis IIthe most logical thing is to think that they are playing a joke on you, since the list of accumulated postponements begins to border on comedy. And the last one is not for less, since after announcing that the last tests had been a success, hours later we knew that the mission scheduled in the window that opened on March 6 has been postponed again and the rocket returns to its ‘garage’.
The new culprit. If one of the great enemies was hydrogen, which already forced delay the first date that we had for 2026, now the focus has been on helium. And, after the second general test with fuel that we saw last fridayengineers have detected a new technical problem in the propulsion system of the SLS superrocket.
Specifically, it is an interruption in the flow of helium in the intermediate cryogenic stage. AND it’s not a minor mattersince this gas is absolutely essential to purge the engines and pressurize the cryogenic fuel tanks in order to ensure mission safety. And although everything worked well in the previous tests, during the post-test the system said “enough.”
To the starting box. As confirmed by NASA itself on its official blog this February 21, as well as Jared Isaacman, current administrator of the agency, via Xthe team is evaluating the situation, but the decision has already been made: rollback. Repairs cannot be done outdoors on the launch pad, forcing the behemoth SLS to be returned to its garage, technically known as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
The possible causes of this failure range from a blocked filter to a failure in the umbilical interface or the check valve, which are technical ghosts that are dangerously reminiscent of the problems that already tortured Artemis I in 2022 and that generated a situation of constant delays that took away all the seriousness of the mission.
The new window. With March completely off the calendar, everything points to April, if it resolves quickly enough and passes the next general test. Although, given what we have seen, fixing one problem causes a completely different problem to arise, so saying a date is real nonsense.
The chronology. Making a list of all the critical points in the mission that was to put four humans back into lunar orbit is almost a titanic and memory challenge, but we are going to illustrate it to make clear the context of delays that we have seen in this mission that has been going on for years.
- It all starts in November 2024, which was the original launch date.
- Throughout 2024, the mission was scheduled from September 2025 to April 2026 after discovering severe damage in the heat shield of the Orion capsule during Artemis I.
- In March 2025, a little light was seen when it was pointed out that the mission could be brought forward until February 2026.
- January 2026: a winter storm delay transfer to the launch pad.
- February 2, 2026: the first dress rehearsal is aborted with 5 minutes left due to a hydrogen leak liquid.
- February 21, 2026: After fixing the leak, the second rehearsal is a success and announces the date of March 6 with great fanfare… and in the end the helium fails, throwing March overboard.
Doubts about the future. The bad experience with Artemis I and II already makes us doubt everything that NASA has planned in the future. Artemis III is the next major space project that aims to land at the south pole of the Moon and for man to set foot on lunar soil again. A mission that has already been delayed until 2027 in order to further perfect the capsule and the suits space.
But the real focus is on Mars with the goal of humans setting foot on the red planet for the first time. A much more complex mission as it involves a much greater distance and a mission time that requires the astronauts to travel for many more days, with all the security implications that this entails.
China. The great competitor of the United States in this space race, which has a great political component behind it. And while NASA turns its calendars into wet paper, on the other side of the world the Chinese space program follows a methodical rhythm, opaque in its crises, but at the moment relentless in its dates.
Right now the goal is to put taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030, and although the United States there is still room for temporary advantagethe image contrast is brutal: while the SLS suffocates between hydrogen leaks and helium failures under the spotlights around the planet, the Chinese space agency (CNSA) continues to chain millimeter successes with its Chang’e robotic missions.
Images | POT
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