2026年2月3日 / 美国东部时间下午5:37 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
美国国家航空航天局（NASA）计划在其巨大的阿耳忒弥斯二号（Artemis II）月球火箭因燃料泄漏而中断了一夜时间的彩排倒计时后，对其进行发射台内的泄漏修复。该机构随后计划进行第二次燃料加注测试，之后于3月再次尝试将四名宇航员送上绕月的历史性飞行任务。
“我们仍在评估昨天收集的数据，并制定（修复）计划，”NASA探索系统开发办公室的高级经理洛里·格雷兹（Lori Glaze）表示，”我们目前认为，我们面前的工作可以在发射台上进行，我们预计就是这样做。”
周二黎明前，在肯尼迪航天中心39B号发射台，阿耳忒弥斯二号的Space Launch System（SLS）月球火箭被霜覆盖。由于氢气泄漏，昼夜彩排倒计时被取消，不过超冷推进剂尚未从助推器的油箱中排出。NASA已将载有四名宇航员前往月球并返回的火箭发射推迟至最早3月。Spaceflight Now
由于2月发射被排除，这次登月计划至少推迟到3月，阿耳忒弥斯二号指令长里德·怀斯曼（Reid Wiseman）、维克多·格洛弗（Victor Glover）、克里斯蒂娜·科赫（Christina Koch）和加拿大宇航员杰里米·汉森（Jeremy Hansen）于周二结束了在休斯顿约翰逊航天中心的飞行前医学隔离。
“看到火箭昨晚达到100%的燃料装载量，我感到无比自豪，特别是知道我们的发射团队完成了危险且不容出错的工作，这对他们来说是个巨大的挑战，”怀斯曼周二下午在X平台（原推特）上表示，”机组人员刚刚与家人共进了一顿平静的早餐，我们明天将重新投入训练，为3月的月球发射做准备。”
问题中的泄漏点位于两个脐带线板之间，一条8英寸宽的氢燃料管线从这里进入火箭底部。周一下午的燃料加注作业期间，传感器在脐带线地面和火箭侧之间的空腔中检测到高浓度的氢气，迫使燃料加注暂停。
该团队最终通过调整流量和温度将泄漏率降低至可接受水平，并为Space Launch System火箭加注了近80万加仑的超冷液态氧和氢燃料。
但在彩排倒计时的最后六分钟，当第一级氢燃料箱在发射时会被加压时，泄漏突然激增。此时，自动控制系统终止了倒计时，发射团队结束了测试，且未完成几个主要目标。
“对我来说，最大的收获是我们得到了火箭与我们对话的机会。它确实做到了这一点，”NASA任务管理团队主席约翰·霍尼卡特（John Honeycutt）表示，”这次测试为我们提供了所需的一切。这是我们在要求机组人员执行飞行任务前，对系统和团队进行磨合的机会。”
测试在周二早些时候被叫停后不久，NASA局长贾里德·伊萨克曼（Jared Isaacman）宣布，NASA将放弃2月尝试发射该任务，而是将飞行推迟到3月的下一个窗口，届时3月6日至11日之间有五个发射窗口期可用。
这只是SLS助推器的第二次飞行，它是世界上最强大的现役火箭。在2022年火箭首次飞行的准备阶段，工程师们遇到了多个推进剂泄漏和其他问题，导致一次无人驾驶测试飞行推迟了六个多月。
氢是元素周期表中最轻的元素。它极其易燃，与氧在火箭发动机中结合时燃烧非常剧烈。但液态氢很难处理。它极冷（华氏零下423度），且极易从阀门和管道的极小缝隙中泄漏出来。
氢泄漏众所周知难以修复，因为修复效果只能通过在发射当天遇到的流速和压力下，让低温推进剂流过相关管道、阀门或连接件来测试。这种测试只能在发射台进行，而且是一项重大工程。
在阿耳忒弥斯一号（Artemis I）任务中，需要进行四次”湿彩排”燃料加注测试，火箭必须三次被运回NASA的车辆装配大楼进行维修，火箭最终才得以发射升空。
阿耳忒弥斯二号的彩排倒计时因助推器底部脐带连接器中的氢气泄漏而中断。液态氧和氢燃料管线通过两个所谓的尾部服务桅杆（TSM）进入火箭。在这张文件照片中，可以看到灰色的TSM在阿耳忒弥斯一号火箭底部呈角度排列在一起。NASA
阿耳忒弥斯二号的测试将如何进行还有待观察。但将发射推迟到3月为下周由两男两女组成的机组人员前往国际空间站提供了机会。他们将接替另外四名上月因机组人员中一人出现医疗问题而缩短任务并返回地球的宇航员。
Crew 12（第12组）指令长杰西卡·梅尔（Jessica Meir）、杰克·哈瑟维（Jack Hathaway）、欧洲航天局宇航员索菲·阿德纳（Sophie Adenot）和俄罗斯宇航员安德烈·费达耶夫（Andrey Fedaev）计划周五飞往肯尼迪航天中心开始最后的准备工作。计划于美国东部时间2月11日（周三）上午6点乘坐SpaceX的猎鹰9号火箭发射。
但发射将取决于联邦航空局（FAA）的许可，此前周一在一次发射另一批星链互联网卫星的飞行中，猎鹰9号第二级出现了某种异常。
尽管星链卫星成功部署，但火箭第二级在准备第三次点火离轨时并未按预期工作。SpaceX在X平台上表示：”团队正在审查数据，以确定根本原因和纠正措施，然后再恢复飞行。”
Crew 12将使用相同类型的火箭，NASA官员周二表示，在获得联邦航空局的许可之前，该机构将等待许可后再进行发射。
梅尔和她的机组人员原定于2月15日发射，但在第11组指令长泽娜·卡曼（Zena Cardman）、迈克·芬克（Mike Fincke）、日本宇航员由唯（Kimiya Yui）和宇航员奥列格·普拉托诺夫（Oleg Platonov）于1月提前返回地球后，NASA将这次飞行提前了四天。
随着第11组的离开，只剩下美国宇航员克里斯·威廉姆斯（Chris Williams）驻守空间站。威廉姆斯于去年11月与指令长谢尔盖·库德-斯维奇科夫（Sergey Kud-Sverchkov）和宇航员谢尔盖·米卡耶夫（Sergey Mikaev）一起乘坐俄罗斯联盟号航天器被送往空间站。
虽然威廉姆斯受过单独操作美国空间站系统的训练，但NASA希望尽快发射第12组，以恢复正常的研究工作，并让额外的机组人员随时处理紧急情况和执行双人太空行走任务。
NASA plans on-pad leak repair for grounded Artemis II moon rocket before possible March launch
February 3, 2026 / 5:37 PM EST / CBS News
NASA plans an on-pad repair of the fuel leak that derailed an overnight dress rehearsal countdown for the agency’s huge Artemis II rocket. The agency then plans a second fueling test before making another attempt in March to launch four astronauts on a historic flight around the moon.
“We are still in the process of assessing the data that we collected yesterday and developing the (repair) plan,” said Lori Glaze, a senior manager in NASA’s Exploration Systems Development office. “We do believe…at this point that the work that’s in front of us can be conducted out at the pad, and that’s what we anticipate.”
Frost coats NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday after a dress rehearsal countdown was called off because of a hydrogen leak but before supercold propellants had been drained from the booster’s tanks. NASA has delayed the rocket’s launch to carry four astronauts to the moon and back until March at the earliest. Spaceflight Now
With a February launch ruled out and the moonshot now on hold until March at the earliest, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen ended a pre-flight medical quarantine at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Tuesday.
“Immense pride seeing the rocket reach 100% fuel load last night, especially knowing how challenging the scenario was for our launch team doing the dangerous and unforgiving work,” Wiseman said on X Tuesday afternoon. “The crew just shared a peaceful breakfast with our families and we jump back into training tomorrow to start our preps for a March launch to the moon.”
The leak in question is located between two umbilical plates where an 8-inch-wide hydrogen fuel line enters the base of the rocket. During fueling operations Monday afternoon, sensors recorded high concentrations of hydrogen in a cavity between the ground and rocket sides of the umbilical, forcing fueling to halt.
The team ultimately was able to get the leak back to acceptable levels by adjusting flow rates and temperature, and fully loading the Space Launch System rocket with nearly 800,000 gallons of supercold liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel.
But the leak suddenly spiked in the final six minutes of the practice countdown when the first stage hydrogen tank was being pressurized as it would be for launch. At that point, an automated control system stopped the countdown and the launch team ended the test without accomplishing several major objectives.
“To me, the big takeaway was we got a chance for the rocket to talk to us. And it did just that,” said John Honeycutt, chairman of NASA’s Mission Management Team. “The test gave us exactly what we needed. It was an opportunity for us to wring out the system, as well as the team, before we ask our crew to go fly.”
Shortly after the test was called off early Tuesday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced NASA would forego attempting to launch the mission in February and would instead delay the flight until the next opportunity in March when five launch days will be available between March 6 and March 11.
This is only the second flight of an SLS booster, the most powerful operational rocket in the world. During the ramp up to the rocket’s maiden flight in 2022, engineers ran into multiple propellant leaks and other problems that ended up delaying an unpiloted test flight by more than six months.
Hydrogen is the lightest element in the periodic table. It is extremely flammable and it burns very powerfully when combined with oxygen in a rocket engine. But liquid hydrogen is difficult to work with. It’s very cold — minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit — and it easily slips through even extremely tiny gaps in valves and plumbing.
Hydrogen leaks are notoriously difficult to fix because repairs can only be tested by flowing the cryogenic propellant through the pipe, valve or fitting in question at the sort of flow rates and pressures they encounter on launch day. Such testing is only done at the launch pad, and it is a major production.
During the Artemis I campaign, four “wet dress” rehearsal fueling tests were required and the rocket had to be hauled back to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building three times for repairs before the rocket finally blasted off.
The Artemis II moon rocket’s dress rehearsal countdown was derailed by a hydrogen leak in an umbilical connector at the base of the booster. Liquid oxygen and hydrogen fuel lines enter the rocket through two so-called tail service masts, or TSMs. The gray TSMs are visible angled together at the base of the Artemis I rocket in this file photo. NASA
How the Artemis II testing will go remains to be seen. But delaying the launch to March clears the way for a two-man, two-woman crew to blast off next week on a flight to the International Space Station. They’re going to replace four other fliers who had to cut their mission short and return to Earth last month because of a medical issue with one of the crew members.
Crew 12 commander Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedaev plan to fly to the Kennedy Space Center Friday to begin final preparations. Takeoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 6 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
But launch will depend on Federal Aviation Administration clearance in the wake of a Falcon 9 second stage anomaly of some sort during a flight Monday to launch another batch of Starlink internet satellites.
Even though the Starlink satellites were successfully deployed, the rocket’s second stage did not operate as expected as it was preparing to fire its engine a third time to drop out of orbit. SpaceX said on X that “teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight.”
Crew 12 will use the same type rocket and NASA officials said Tuesday the agency will await clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration before proceeding with launch.
Meir and her crewmates originally were scheduled to take off Feb. 15, but NASA moved the flight up four days after Crew 11 commander Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov returned to Earth ahead of schedule in January.
With Crew 11’s departure, a single U.S. astronaut, Chris Williams, was left behind aboard the space station. Williams was launched to the outpost last November aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and cosmonaut Sergey Mikaev.
While Williams is trained to operate U.S. station systems on his own, NASA wants to get Crew 12 launched as soon as possible to resume normal research and to have additional crew members on hand to handle emergencies and to conduct two-person spacewalks.