{"id":16064,"date":"2026-02-21T19:17:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/nasa-chief-delays-moon-mission-rules-out-march-launch-over-technical-issues\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T19:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T19:17:06","slug":"nasa-chief-delays-moon-mission-rules-out-march-launch-over-technical-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/nasa-chief-delays-moon-mission-rules-out-march-launch-over-technical-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA chief delays moon mission, rules out March launch over technical issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"storyParagraphFigure\" readability=\"35\">\n<p class=\"content\">NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"artImage leadImage\">\n<div class=\" \"><picture class=\"leadImageClass\"><source media=\"(min-width:768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2026\/02\/21\/550x309\/US-SPACE-ARTEMIS-NASA-48_1771700463267_1771700475487.jpg\" alt=\"NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (AFP)\"><\/source><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class>NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA&rsquo;s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, January 17, 2026. (AFP)<span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"content \">Workers identified a problem with helium flow to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will &ldquo;take the March launch window out of consideration,&rdquo; Isaacman said in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&ldquo;I understand people are disappointed by this development. That disappointment is felt most by the team at NASA, who have been working tirelessly to prepare for this great endeavor,&rdquo; Isaacman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">&ldquo;During the 1960s, when NASA achieved what most thought was impossible, and what has never been repeated since, there were many setbacks.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Also Read | NASA&rsquo;S Artemis II readies for moon return after 54 years of Apollo 17: Here&rsquo;s the latest on mission<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">The towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will be rolled back into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to examine the issue and carry out any necessary repairs, he added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/12-weeks-jail-for-school-it-support-technician-who-took-upskirt-videos-of-teachers\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">&lt;div&gt;12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers&lt;\/div&gt;<\/span><\/a><\/div><p class=\"content \">A detailed briefing is expected in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">The Artemis 2 mission, planned to last about 10 days, will send three Americans and one Canadian on a journey around the Moon. The mission is seen as a critical step toward returning humans to the lunar surface, a goal announced during President Donald Trump&rsquo;s first term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">NASA had earlier said March 6 was the earliest possible launch date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">The US space agency aims to return astronauts to the Moon amid growing competition from China, which is targeting a crewed lunar mission by 2030. China&rsquo;s uncrewed Chang&rsquo;e 7 mission is scheduled for 2026 to explore the Moon&rsquo;s south pole, while testing of its Mengzhou crewed spacecraft is expected this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Although NASA signaled late last year that Artemis 2 could launch as early as February, the programme has faced repeated delays. Artemis 1, the uncrewed test flight, was eventually launched in November 2022 after multiple postponements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">More recently, technical problems in early February, including a liquid hydrogen leak, interrupted a wet dress rehearsal for Artemis 2. <\/p>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/migrant-acquitted-in-first-trial-over-us-border-military-zones\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div><p class=\"content \">The rehearsal conducted under real launch conditions with fully fueled tanks and system checks, was successfully completed earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">NASA ultimately hopes lunar missions will help prepare for future crewed journeys to Mars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><sub>NASA chief delays moon mission, rules out March launch over technical issues<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA chief Jared Isaacman on Saturday ruled out a March launch for Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, citing technical issues. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks during the rollout of NASA&rsquo;s next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/nasa-chief-delays-moon-mission-rules-out-march-launch-over-technical-issues\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;NASA chief delays moon mission, rules out March launch over technical issues&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}