Cape Canaveral (USA). US space agency NASA has encountered a fuel leak for the second time during the flight test of its new moon rocket. The incident occurred as the launch crew began refueling the spacecraft for the test flight. The refueling process is thoroughly checked just before the astronauts board the spacecraft. However, NASA later posted that launch controllers had resumed the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage after the leak.
The launch is seen as a significant milestone in America’s efforts to land astronauts on the Moon’s surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. The spacecraft is 322 feet tall, the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA and even more powerful than the Saturn-5, which carried the Apollo program astronauts to the Moon.
The program was put on hold after an engine failure during the first attempt this week. The rocket is currently at its test site at the Kennedy Space Center, with the ‘crew capsule’ beneath it. Thousands of people have gathered near the beach to watch the launch of this rocket. This is the first flight under NASA’s 21st Century Lunar Exploration Program. According to American mythology, it is named after Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo.
The Space Launch System will attempt to send a rocket ‘capsule’ around the Moon and then back. The ‘capsule’ will have no one on board and only three mannequins will be put to the test. If the test is successful, it will be the first ‘capsule’ to go to the Moon since NASA’s Apollo program 50 years ago.
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tags: nasa
First published: September 03, 2022, 18:56 IST
