The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday postponed the debut test launch of its new moon rocket.
According to Reuters, the NASA said an engine-cooling problem surfaced when fuel tanks of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket were being filled with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants before its test flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the four main engines failed to cool down as expected.
Following the postponement, NASA engineers continued working to detect the source of the problem.
"We don’t launch until it’s right... It's just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work. And you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go," Reuters quoted NASA chief Bill Nelson as saying.
According to Reuters, the NASA said an engine-cooling problem surfaced when fuel tanks of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket were being filled with nearly 1 million gallons of super-cooled liquid oxygen and hydrogen propellants before its test flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the four main engines failed to cool down as expected.
Following the postponement, NASA engineers continued working to detect the source of the problem.
"We don’t launch until it’s right... It's just illustrative that this is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work. And you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go," Reuters quoted NASA chief Bill Nelson as saying.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris was among the dignitaries who attended the event. The next launch attempt will not take place till Friday and could be off until next month.