Artemis-1 launch scrubbed and postponed
Engine problem prevented US moon rocket from debut
NASA has postponed today's August 29, 2022, maiden flight of its SLS lunar carrier rocket, and the Orion spacecraft around the Moon on the Artemis I unmanned mission. The vehicle was supposed to take off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space agency called for a postponement of Artemis I at 08:35 EST (12:35 GMT) on Monday, August 29, 2022, following a malfunction in the bleed of the RS-25 engine serial number 2058 “engine 3”.
The engineers were unable to cool the engine circuit (chill down procedure), resorting to bleeding the propellant liquid hydrogen through the engine, and closing the other three. “Launch controllers continued to assess why a bleed test to place the RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage in the proper temperature range for takeoff was not successful and ran out of time on the launch. two-hour launch window,” according to a space agency statement.
History of Engine 2058
RS-25 "2058" was part of six shuttle missions, including the delivery of the U.S. Harmony node and Japanese Kibo laboratory for the International Space Station (STS-120 and STS-124), as well as the final flight of the orbiter Discovery (STS-133).
