NASA has postponed the earliest launch opportunity for the Artemis 2 mission from February 6 to March following a liquid hydrogen leak during a wet dress rehearsal on February 3.
The agency began final preparations for Artemis 2 in early January. The wet dress rehearsal, conducted in the early morning hours of February 3, simulates propellant loading and countdown procedures. The Space Launch System rocket, already positioned on the launch pad, experienced the leak. Engineers spent hours troubleshooting the issue, successfully filled all tanks, and restarted the countdown.
Approximately five minutes before simulated liftoff, the ground launch sequencer automatically halted the process due to a spike in the spacecraft’s liquid hydrogen leak rate.
“With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely why we conduct a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to surface issues before flight and set up launch day with the highest probability of success,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said on X.
The rehearsal revealed additional problems. Cold weather affected mission equipment during testing, and NASA must prevent similar impacts during the actual launch. The Orion crew module’s hatch pressurization process took longer than expected. Audio communication channels for ground teams dropped several times.
Ground crews will review rehearsal data, address these issues, and perform another test to verify fixes. NASA will then announce the updated launch window.
