It looked like Monday would be a big day for the rocket that was supposed to send the Orion capsule to the moon, but it didn’t. This is another proof that everything related to space technology is extremely complicated, especially when working with liquid hydrogen and oxygen. In the best case, the rocket will be launched on September 2, in the worst – in a few weeks.

“I think it shows us what a complex machine the SLS is, what a complex system it is. Everything should work,” said Bill Nelson, NASA administrator. He added that launch cancellations are something that has happened in past programs and is not unusual in the industry, especially when it comes to test flights.

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It must be said that the launch of SLS will take place five years later than NASA had hoped ten years ago. Delays are common, but it is clear that the rocket is close to its maiden flight.

NASA has not yet announced the date of the next attempt, but according to the official calendar, the “window” will be on September 2 between 19:48 and 21:48 (Romanian time), i.e. 12:48. to 2:48 p.m. in Florida.

Engineers reviewed the issues on Monday and will announce a solution on Tuesday after several meetings. The fact that the September 2 test was not announced immediately after Monday’s suspension was due to the fact that the problem with the cooling of engine 3 had to be carefully analyzed.

Another launch date could be Sept. 5, but the worst-case scenario would be a delay of several weeks if the rocket would need to be returned to the hangar and the engine would need to be removed, tested and repaired. However, from the first statements of NASA representatives, it seems that there is no need for this.

Obviously, even if everything is technically perfect, one important aspect remains: the weather, which is capricious at this time in Florida. And for two hours on Monday, it was raining first, and lightning near the end. According to preliminary data, the weather on September 2 may not allow a safe launch. In addition, the weather is more stable in the morning, and the release “window” on Friday is around noon.

Why was the SLS rocket not launched on Monday, August 29? First, a leak was detected in the pipe feeding the hydrogen tank, and this problem could be solved, especially since it also appeared in one of the spring static tests.

The problem, which could not be solved and which was technically impossible to test in April and June, was that one of the four engines could not be cooled to the temperature necessary for normal operation. The culprit seems to have been the nozzle, which is the tube that allows the flow of fluids to occur in each section at the desired pressure or speed. This tube was not working properly and engine 3 was not cooling properly.

This cooling of the engines takes place 4 minutes 40 minutes before launch. The first conclusions are that the problem will not be in the engine itself, but only in the system that supplies it with supercooled fuel.

All the statements from NASA officials were cautious: we don’t launch until we’re sure everything is working perfectly, and they insisted that Artemis 1 is a test flight that should go well because the Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions will have people in the capsule Orion.