But after more than three hours of trying to resolve a fuel leak during rocket fueling operations, time was running out for launch teams. “The launch of Artemis is canceled for today due to a leak during the filling of the tank. It reminds everyone how complex space is. It’s the right decision, safety first, “said Josef Aschbacher on Twitter. A new attempt could possibly take place on Monday or Tuesday, but NASA will have to analyze all the parameters before deciding on a new date. Space agency officials are due to meet in the afternoon before giving a press conference. “They’re going to assess if there’s still a possibility now,” NASA boss Bill Nelson said on the agency’s video feed. Otherwise, “it will be an October liftoff”, he said, specifying that it would rather be mid-October, because a crew must take off at the beginning of the month from the same space center for the Station. international space.50 years after ApolloMonday, during a first attempt, the launch had been canceled at the last moment because of technical problems, in particular on the cooling of the engines.The goal of this unmanned mission, named Artémis 1, is to check that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport astronauts in the future. Thanks to this new vessel, the American space agency intends to reconnect with distant human exploration, the Moon being 1,000 times further away than the International Space Station. Above all, 50 years after the last Apollo mission, NASA is counting this time there establish a lasting human presence, in order to make it a springboard for a trip to Mars. Six weeks in space the surrounding beaches. A string of astronauts had also made the trip, including the Frenchman Thomas Pesquet. The trip should last about six weeks in total. Orion will venture up to 64,000 kilometers behind the Moon, farther than any other habitable spacecraft so far.