2026-02-21T12:50:15-0500 / CBS新闻
周五夜间，工程师在为“阿尔忒弥斯二号”登月火箭的上面级氦气罐重新加压时遇到了问题，这一问题需要将巨型火箭从发射台移回其处理机库进行故障排除。美国国家航空航天局（NASA）官员周六表示，这项工作将把已经推迟的任务从3月推至4月初。
加压氦气用于将推进剂输送到火箭发动机以实现点火，并在推进剂流动前清除各种燃料管线中的杂质。在周四结束的成功倒计时彩排测试之后，目前尚不清楚是什么原因导致氦气无法流回太空发射系统（SLS）火箭的上面级。
“无论潜在故障是什么，解决这些问题中的任何一个都只能在车辆装配大楼（VAB）内进行。”NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼在社交媒体平台X上的帖子中表示，“我们将开始准备回滚工作，这将使3月的发射窗口不再可行。”
“阿尔忒弥斯二号”任务旨在将四名宇航员——里德·怀斯曼、维克多·格洛弗、克里斯蒂娜·科赫和加拿大宇航员杰里米·汉森——送入绕月球远端飞行并返回的轨道，以全面测试该机构的“猎户座”深空舱，为2028年的月球登陆任务“阿尔忒弥斯三号”铺平道路。
（注：图片为佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角肯尼迪航天中心39B发射台远处的NASA“阿尔忒弥斯二号”太空发射系统火箭和“猎户座”飞船）——Gregg Newton/法新社通过盖蒂图片社提供
由于地球和月球位置的不断变化，以及相关的光照和其他因素变化，每月只有少数几次发射机会能够满足“阿尔忒弥斯二号”任务的要求。当前的发射窗口期将于3月11日结束。下个月可用的发射日期为4月1日、3日、4日、5日和6日。
怀斯曼、格洛弗、科赫和汉森最初希望本月初发射，但在月初的首次“湿彩排”倒计时中检测到氢气泄漏，最终将飞行任务推迟至3月。
NASA在周四完成了第二次燃料加注测试和倒计时，为太空发射系统火箭加注了超过75万加仑的液氧和氢燃料，同时完成了实际发射这一备受期待任务所需的各项步骤。
测试进展顺利，没有出现导致本月初发射计划受挫的燃料泄漏问题。管理人员周五表示，团队将继续推进3月6日的发射尝试，将怀斯曼和他的机组人员送往月球。
宇航员们满怀希望，于周五晚上进入约翰逊航天中心接受飞行前医疗隔离，并计划于3月1日飞往肯尼迪航天中心为发射做准备。他们现在将结束隔离，等待事态发展。
“我理解大家对这一进展感到失望。”艾萨克曼说，“这种失望情绪在NASA团队中感受最深，他们一直不知疲倦地为这一伟大事业做准备。”
在NASA的阿波罗计划期间（1968年至1972年），共有24名宇航员登上了月球。新的“阿尔忒弥斯计划”目前仅完成了一次无人月球轨道飞行任务（2022年）。
“我再次强调，总统创立‘阿尔忒弥斯计划’是为了使其远远超越美国在阿波罗计划中取得的成就。我们将在未来几年重返月球，建立月球基地，并开展往返月球环境的持续任务。”艾萨克曼表示，“我们从这个架构和飞行速度开始的地方，不会是它结束的地方。”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/what-led-nasa-delaying-artemis-ii-launch/
NASA’s Artemis II rocket hit by new problem expected to bump moonshot into early April
2026-02-21T12:50:15-0500 / CBS News
Engineers ran into problems repressurizing the Artemis II moon rocket’s upper stage helium tanks overnight Friday, a problem that will require rolling the huge rocket off the launch pad and back to its processing hangar for troubleshooting. The work will push the already delayed mission from March into early April, NASA officials said Saturday.
Pressurized helium is used to push propellants to rocket engines for ignition and to purge various fuel lines to clear them out before propellants flow. It’s not yet known what might be preventing helium from flowing back into the SLS rocket’s upper stage following a successful countdown rehearsal test that ended Thursday.
“Regardless of the potential fault, accessing and remediating any of these issues can only be performed in the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building),” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a post on the social media platform X. “We will begin preparations for rollback, and this will take the March launch window out of consideration.”
The Artemis II mission aims to send four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — on a flight around the far side of the moon and back to thoroughly test the agency’s Orion deep space capsule to help clear the way for a lunar landing mission, Artemis III, in 2028.
NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are seen in the distance at Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Gregg Newton /AFP via Getty Images
Because of the ever-changing positions of the Earth and moon, and associated changes in lighting and other factors, only a handful of launch opportunities are available each month that meet the Artemis II mission requirements. The current launch period ends on March 11. The available launch dates next month are April 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen originally hoped to launch early this month, but hydrogen leaks detected during an initial “wet dress countdown” rehearsal ultimately pushed the flight to March.
NASA completed a second fueling test and countdown on Thursday, loading the Space Launch System rocket with more than 750,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel while working through the steps that will be needed to actually launch the huge rocket on the long-awaited mission.
The test went well; there were no fuel leaks like the ones that derailed plans for a launch earlier this month. Managers said Friday the team would press ahead for a launch attempt on March 6 to send Wiseman and his crewmates to the moon.
Hoping for the best, the astronauts went into pre-flight medical quarantine at the Johnson Space Center on Friday evening and planned to fly to the Kennedy Space Center on March 1 to prepare for launch. They will now leave quarantine to await developments.
“I understand people are disappointed by this development,” Isaacman said. “That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor.”
During NASA’s Apollo program, 24 astronauts flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972. The new Artemis program has completed only one flight so far, a lunar-orbiting mission without a crew in 2022.
“I will say again, the President created Artemis as a program that will far surpass what America achieved during Apollo. We will return in the years ahead, we will build a Moon base, and undertake what should be continuous missions to and from the lunar environment,” Issacman said. “Where we begin with this architecture and flight rate is not where it will end.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/what-led-nasa-delaying-artemis-ii-launch/
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