In short, Artemis ran afoul of some technical issues. In long, a “bleed test” of engine 3 — one of the bottom, core stage rockets — failed to reach the appropriate temperature range before the narrow two hour launch window closed. And with engineers unable to pinpoint the problem in time, a launch would have meant that Artemis wouldn’t be able to hit the necessary trajectory to reach the moon.
Due to the constraints of flight paths, planetary rotations, and orbits, rockets generally have only a few hours to take off in order to hit their intended marks. If and when they aren’t able to take off, the launch will have to be pushed back until everything lines up properly again. Depending on how long it takes to discern and fix any issues (and weather permitting), this could push back the Artemis launch by a day or two, a week, or even longer.
An abundance of caution is warranted when it comes to space travel, as even minor problems can lead to tragedy. There are so many components that have to work perfectly, and dozens of outside factors that need to be accounted for, every time a rocket launches. Too hot, too cold, too humid, too windy, a hairline crack, a faulty wire — if it’s not right, it needs to be fixed immediately, or things need to be delayed until conditions are favorable.
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