As NASA's ambitions for the moon are on hold, another team sets its sights on orbit.

      From left to right: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

      NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years is not set to launch this month as planned.

      Initially scheduled for February 6, the eagerly awaited Artemis II mission, which will send four astronauts on a flight around the moon, has been postponed due to issues that arose during a key preflight test on Tuesday. NASA announced that the SLS rocket will not launch until at least March.

      During the "wet dress rehearsal," where engineers fuel the rocket and simulate the entire launch process without starting the engines, a hydrogen leak was identified at the base of the SLS rocket.

      The launch window is now set for February 6 to 11, but NASA has opted to take additional time to assess the situation, which may also include a second rehearsal. Consequently, the launch is now expected to occur no sooner than March 6.

      “With more than three years between SLS launches, we fully anticipated encountering challenges,” NASA chief Jared Isaacman shared in a post on X on Tuesday. “That is precisely why we conduct a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to identify issues before flight and ensure launch day has the highest chance of success.”

      This schedule change means the Artemis II astronauts—NASA’s Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, along with the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen—will have some additional time on Earth before heading into space.

      It also indicates that another group of astronauts may reach orbit ahead of their lunar-bound counterparts. SpaceX’s Crew-12, featuring NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, could be on their way to the International Space Station as soon as February 11.

      At least, that was the plan until Monday when SpaceX announced it was pausing operations of its Falcon 9 rocket—the same type that will carry Crew-12 to orbit—after an incident occurred during a launch that day when the upper stage failed to perform a deorbit burn as intended.

      “Teams are reviewing data to determine the root cause and corrective measures before returning to flight,” the company stated in a post on X.

      It is uncommon for the Falcon 9 to face issues lately, so hopefully SpaceX can resolve this quickly, allowing Crew-12 to launch to orbit next week as initially scheduled.

      Not long ago, Trevor relocated from one tea-drinking island nation that has left-hand traffic (Britain) to another (Japan)…

      NASA’s skywatching tips for February feature a planetary parade and a lunar mission.

      Be sure to look up!

      NASA has shared its monthly skywatching update on what to observe in the coming weeks, and the top event likely won’t surprise you.

      That’s right: the Artemis II mission. NASA is preparing to send a crew on a journey around the moon, marking the first human lunar mission in more than five decades.

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      SpaceX video highlights next-gen Starship booster ahead of 12th flight

      Elon Musk's spaceflight company is set to attempt another Starship launch next month.

      According to a recent post by the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, SpaceX plans to launch its next-gen Super Heavy booster next month. This booster, part of the Starship rocket that includes the upper-stage Ship spacecraft, is the most powerful booster ever constructed and has flown 11 times so far, with varying levels of success.

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      NASA animation illustrates how its crewed moon mission will unfold

      A NASA video (above) provides a detailed depiction of how the upcoming Artemis II mission is expected to unfold. Though the space agency released the animation last year, with Artemis II astronauts possibly heading to the moon as early as February 6, it’s an excellent time to revisit it.

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