Overview
- A buildup of liquid hydrogen near the Space Launch System’s base during fueling forced multiple stops and ended the test with about five minutes left in the countdown.
- NASA also cited delays in closeout operations, intermittent ground audio outages, and a crew-module hatch pressurization valve that needed tightening, with cold conditions complicating work.
- The agency is targeting March as the earliest launch window, with media reporting possible dates of March 6–9 and 11, and backup opportunities in April, though no date is confirmed.
- The four-person crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen—has been released from quarantine and will re-enter isolation roughly two weeks before the next attempt.
- The roughly 10-day mission will loop past the Moon to validate Orion and life-support systems ahead of Artemis III, following earlier SLS hydrogen-leak troubles seen during the Artemis I campaign.