NASA delays Artemis II moon mission because of extreme cold at launch site

WASHINGTON — NASA delayed an upcoming trip to the moon because of the new year’s extremely cold weather, saying near-freezing temperatures at the launch site forced them to push back the launch. 

In a post on social media, NASA said the first Artemis moonshot with a crew is now targeted for no earlier than Feb. 8, two days later than planned.

NASA was all set to conduct a fueling test of the 322-foot (98-meter) moon rocket on Saturday, but called everything off late Thursday due to expected cold. They now plan to fuel the rocket on Feb. 2.

The critical dress rehearsal is now set for Monday, weather permitting, leaving NASA with only three days in February to send four astronauts around the moon and back before changes to Earth’s orbit will push the launch back into March.

“Any additional delays would result in a day-for-day change,” NASA said in a statement Friday.

Heaters are keeping the Orion capsule warm atop the rocket, officials said, and rocket-purging systems are also being adapted to the cold.

Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew remain in quarantine in Houston, and their arrival at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is uncertain.

NASA has only a handful of days any given month to launch its first lunar crew in more than half a century. Apollo 17 closed out that storied moon exploration program in 1972.

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