Nasa cancels historic Moon rocket launch as mega-rocket hits last minute snag

NASA has had to stop its highly anticipated Artemis 1 Moon mission after it encountered problems at the fueling stage.

Nasa communications just said the launch has had to be stopped due to an “engine leak”.

Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission will no longer launch on August 29

The US space agency’s Administrator Bill Nelson said: “We don’t launch until it’s right.”

He stressed the importance of getting this unmanned test right and not launching until it is.

Nelson also had to brief US Vice President Kamala Harris about the canceled launch after she was invited to Kennedy Space Center to watch it.

US Astronaut Stan Love told journalists: “It looks like it’s going to be a few more days. We don’t know exactly.”

He admitted that Nasa doesn’t quite know what the problem was.

Love added: “We’re going to have to take a death breath and wait for another opportunity.”

The launch of the huge Space Launch System rocket, along with the unmanned Orion capsule and European Service Module, was stopped hours ahead of launch on Monday 29.

Artemis I was originally expected to blast off at 8:33am ET (1:33pm BST) from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

A new launch time has not yet been set, but Nasa will not be launching today.

The mission will likely be pushed back to either September 2 or September 5.

Problems arose with the Space Launch System rocket when fueling began and a suspected leak was spotted.

Engineers discovered a possible crack in a flange on the core stage.

The launch faced delays due to weather and fueling this morning but has now been canceled completely.

At one point rocket engine number three was still too warm for launch and engineers desperately tried to cool it down.

Stormy weather had already set the team back early on Monday.

The current countdown is being held at T-minus 40 minutes, with another scheduled hold set to take place at the 10-minute mark.

According to Flordia Today, up to 500,000 went to Cape Canaveral in Florida in an attempt to watch the launch.

Those spectators may have to wait eight weeks for another launch if it doesn’t happen in early September.

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