NASA will postpone the launch of the Orion manned spacecraft to the Moon: what are the reasons?
22 February 07:09
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has postponed the launch of the Orion spacecraft to the Moon with four astronauts on board for an indefinite period.
This was reported by NASA’s press service, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to the agency’s statement, engineers have discovered problems with the launch vehicle that is supposed to take the spacecraft into Earth orbit as part of the US manned mission (Artemis 2). The launch was scheduled for March 2026, but on the night of February 21, a helium supply failure was detected in the intermediate cryogenic stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, according to the agency’s statement.
As NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized, the launch vehicle will be sent back to the assembly shop for repairs, which “will affect the launch window in March.” He did not name a new launch date for Orion to the Moon.
The US is preparing to land humans on the Moon for the first time in 50 years
The launch of Orion will be the second stage in the history of the new US lunar program. The four-person crew will fly around the Moon and return to Earth within 10 days.
NASA announced the creation of the Artemis program in 2019. Its goal is to return the US to the Moon, which involves regular manned missions and the creation of a staging base for flights to Mars.
In December 2022, the first stage of the program (Artemis 1) was completed: during this stage, Orion flew to the Moon in test unmanned mode, spent several weeks in its orbit, and returned to Earth.
The third phase of the program, Artemis 3, will see humans land on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
