Fuel leak disrupts NASA's 2nd shot at launching moon rocket

NASAs new moon rocket sprang another hazardous leak Saturday as the launch team began fuelling it for liftoff on a test flight that must go well before astronauts climb aboardFor the second time this week the launch team began loading nearly 1 million gallons of fuel into the 322foot rocket the most powerful ever built by NASAMondays attempt was halted by a bad engine sensor and leaking fuelAs the sun rose an overpressure alarm sounded and the tanking operation was briefly halted but no damage occurred and the effort resumed NASAs Launch Control reportedBut minutes later hydrogen fuel began leaking from the engine section at the bottom of the rocketNASA halted the operation while engineers scrambled to plug what was believed to be a gap around a sealThe countdown clocks continued ticking toward an afternoon liftoff NASA had two hours Saturday to get the rocket offAlso Read Nitish likely to visit Delhi from September 5 to meet Opposition leadersNASA wants to send the crew capsule atop the rocket around the moon pushing it to the limit before astronauts get on the next flightIf the fiveweek demo with test dummies succeeds astronauts could fly around the moon in 2024 and land on it in 2025 People last walked on the moon 50 years agoForecasters expected generally favourable weather at Kennedy Space Center especially toward the end of the twohour afternoon launch windowAt the same time the rockets lead engineers expressed confidence in the tightenedup fuel lines and procedure changesOn Monday a sensor indicated one of the four engines was too warm but engineers later verified it actually was cold enoughThe launch team planned to ignore the faulty sensor this time around and rely on other instruments to ensure each main engine was properly chilledBefore igniting the main engines need to be as frigid as the liquid hydrogen fuel flowing into them at minus420 degrees Fahrenheit minus250 degrees CelsiusIf not the resulting damage could lead to an abrupt engine shutdown and aborted flightMission managers accepted the additional risk posed by the engine issue as well as a separate problem cracks in the rockets insulating foam But they acknowledged other problems could prompt yet another delayThat didnt stop thousands from jamming the coast to see the Space Launch System rocket soarLocal authorities expected massive crowds because of the long Labour Day holiday weekendThe 41 billion test flight is the first step in NASAs Artemis program of renewed lunar exploration named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythologyTwelve astronauts walked on the moon during NASAs Apollo programme the last time in 1972Artemis years behind schedule and billions over budget aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon with crews eventually spending weeks at a time thereIts considered a training ground for MarsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever