NASA's Artemis II launch date gets pushed back again

For the second time this month, NASA has been forced to delay the launch of the spacecraft that will take it back to the moon.

The Artemis II mission suffered another setback over the weekend due to an issue with the flow of helium to its SLS rocket's upper stage. That has forced the space agency to roll the craft away from the launch pad to investigate the issue – and that will, said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, "take the March launch window out of consideration."

It was less than three weeks ago that NASA had hoped to launch Artemis 2 as early as Feb 8. A hydrogen leak during a fueling test was the cause behind that delay.

Ironically, the two delays may bring Artemis II back to its originally scheduled launch date. NASA had initially said it was targeting April 2026 after it saw delays in 2024. That's not guaranteed, though. NASA, in a blog entry, said the fix for this most recent problem "potentially preserves the April launch window, pending the outcome of data findings, repair efforts, and how the schedule comes to fruition in the coming days and weeks."

The mission will see astronauts take a 10-day trip around the moon, taking them further from earth than any human has ever been. The Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist — had entered quarantine the day before the issue was discovered and have since exited.

NASA hasn't visited the moon since December 11, 1972. This trip is the first of several planned, with hopes of a landing as soon as 2028.