NASA’s lunar rocket faces increasing flight delays as repairs increase

CAPE CANAVER, Florida. – NASA’s mega-lunar rocket debut faces further delays after a series of failed refueling tests.

Officials said on Monday that it would be difficult to complete the launch window in early to mid-June. The next opportunity to send an empty capsule to the moon during a test flight will be in late June or July.

The 30-story Space Launch System rocket was at the Kennedy Space Center last month. He will return to the hangar next week to repair valves and fuel leaks. The problems erupted earlier this month, preventing NASA from filling the rocket’s fuel tanks for a critical dress rehearsal.

The rocket will likely spend weeks in the hangar before returning to the site for retests, said launching director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

Managers are considering different options for getting back on track.

“The only question is what is the right time, what is the right way to do it,” said Tom Whitmeier, deputy assistant to the NASA administrator.

NASA wants this test flight under its belt before boarding astronauts for the second launch, a lunar tour aimed at 2024. The third mission will try to land astronauts on the moon around 2025, more than half a century after lunar images of NASA from Apollo,

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