New Delhi. US space agency NASA has currently postponed the launch of its Moon Mission Artemis-2. The mission was scheduled to launch in March, but now both the rocket and the vehicle have been removed from the launch pad. NASA said that the reason for this decision was a technical fault in the rocket. Specifically, there was a helium leak problem in the Space Launch System (SLS), due to which the mission has been postponed. NASA Chief Jared Isaacman said on Saturday that the decision was disappointing for his team, because a lot of hard work had been done for the mission. He said, “We conduct important missions very carefully. Even when NASA made history in the 1960s, there were many obstacles, and missions were delayed.”
Importance of helium in rocket system
Helium plays an important role in rocket systems. It maintains pressure in the propellant tank and helps the engine operate. Now the LLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will be sent to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repair.
NASA’s mission plan
NASA’s objective was to give astronauts the experience of working in a small cabin in zero-gravity during the Artemis-2 mission. During the mission, radiation levels in low Earth orbit will be higher than at the International Space Station, but it will be safe. After returning to Earth, the astronauts will experience a bumpy atmospheric return and land in the Pacific Ocean near the US west coast.
This mission was not for landing on the moon. NASA says that the main purpose of Artemis-2 was to prepare the astronauts for the Artemis-3 mission to land on the moon. In the Artemis-3 mission, NASA plans to send astronauts to the lunar south pole, and then establish a sustained human presence on the Moon.
Under the Artemis-4 and Artemis-5 missions, a space station “Gateway” will be built around the moon. After this, there will be more landings on the moon, and additional parts will be added to the Gateway. The program aims to create a permanent human presence on the Moon, as NASA did during the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s.
