NASA postpones Artemis I moon mission for several months due to engine problem

NASA postpones the launch of its Artemis I mission by a few months. The space agency is doing this because of technical problems with an engine of its SLS rocket. The launch was planned for February, but this will be March or April.

NASA said in a statement that the organization encountered problems with one of the engine’s flight controllers during a test. Such controllers communicate with the used Space Launch System rocket for precise engine control and internal diagnostics. Each controller has two channels, with one serving as a backup in case a problem arises during launch. During the check, channel B of one of the four controllers failed to turn on continuously. NASA reports that that controller did function in previous tests; in March, the SLS rocket and its engines successfully completed a static fire test.

“After conducting a series of inspections and troubleshooting, the engineers have decided it is best to replace the motor controller so that the rocket is fully functional and redundant again while the root cause investigation continues,” NASA writes. . The organization is working on a plan to replace the controller and is now looking at launch options in March or April. The mission was initially scheduled to take place in February.

Artemis I will kick off NASA’s Artemis moon mission. It uses an SLS rocket with four RS-25 engines to launch an Orion spacecraft. That will make a test flight around the moon, and then return to Earth. Artemis III is planned for 2025, in collaboration with SpaceX. That will be the first NASA lunar mission with humans on board since Apollo 17 in 1972. That mission was set to launch in 2024, but also had to be postponed, in part due to lawsuits between NASA, SpaceX and Blue Origin.

A render of the SLS rocket. Image via NASA