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Hydrogen leak during SLS wet dress rehearsal pushes Artemis 2 launch to March

NASA postponed the Artemis 2 crewed lunar flyby from February to at least March after engineers detected cryogenic hydrogen leaks during a final SLS fueling test and wet dress rehearsal. The agency halted a practice countdown and will brief the public while teams troubleshoot and retest.

Discovered 2026-02-03T00:08:50.223802-08:00 | 2026-02-03T00:08:50.223802-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The hydrogen leak during the SLS wet dress rehearsal scrubbed the practice countdown and moved the crewed Artemis 2 lunar flyby from February to March; this mission is the first crewed lunar return in more than 50 years. practice countdown

  • The anomaly highlights integration and ground‑systems risk for SLS hardware — including RS‑25 engine readiness — despite recent engine hot‑fire ramp‑up efforts. RS‑25 hot‑fire tests

  • The slip provides time for troubleshooting and repairs but occurs amid prior safety‑adviser calls to reassess Artemis architecture and program schedule resilience. safety panel review

Reported By

SpaceQ rocketcitynow.com actualidadaeroespacial.com talkoftitusville.com NASA spacevoyaging.com
Sources Tracked
83
First Seen
2026-02-03T00:08:50.223802-08:00
Latest Update
2026-02-09T07:55:26.776739-08:00
Coverage
Space

Sources

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