NASA plans next wet dress rehearsal ahead of Artemis 2 rocket launch

• NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission was delayed to March after a liquid hydrogen leak was found in its rocket.
• The mission will send three American astronauts and one Canadian astronaut on a 10-day trip around the moon.
• Before scheduling a launch, NASA will conduct another critical fueling test, known as a wet dress rehearsal.

NASA will have another go at a critical rocket fueling test as the agency attempts to get its highly anticipated human moon mission known as Artemis 2 back on track.

The mission, the first to send astronauts near the moon in more than half a century, was meant to get off the ground earlier in February. That was before NASA's ground teams encountered a liquid hydrogen leak with the towering Space Launch System rocket designed to propel the crew of astronauts on their way.

Now, it'll be take two for NASA as the space agency eyes another critical fueling test known as a wet dress rehearsal. The next prelaunch test, designed to assess whether the rocket is ready for flight, would come more than two weeks after the last launch day rehearsal ended early and exposed issues with the SLS.

As of now, NASA is still hoping to launch the Artemis 2 mission at the beginning of March – sending three Americans and one Canadian on a 10-day trip around the moon in the first crewed venture under the agency's multibillion-dollar program.

Here's what to know about the next wet dress rehearsal scheduled ahead of a potential Artemis 2 rocket launch.

When is the Artemis launch date? Moon mission delayed until March

Originally slated for liftoff in February, NASA officials have delayed the Artemis 2 moon launch to March from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Under NASA's current timeline, the earliest the mission could get off the ground is March 6.

NASA has not yet announced an official launch date. The agency, though, said in its most recent blog post that it found an additional day in the first week of March that would be suitable for a launch opportunity.

While NASA did not specify the new date, the previously announced Artemis 2 launch window in March included March 6-9 and March 11.

NASA schedules next prelaunch test for SLS rocket

Committing to a new launch date won't happen until NASA conducts another wet dress rehearsal and completes a prelaunch analysis known as a flight readiness review.

The next wet dress rehearsal, a test designed to mimic a launch, is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, NASA announced. During the test, teams will run through the full range of operations that would take place on launch day, including loading the SLS rocket with 700,000 gallons cryogenic liquid propellant that is later drained and conducting a mock countdown.

Launch controllers are due to arrive at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the control center to begin the nearly 50-hour countdown to the four-hour rehearsal itself, according to NASA. The simulated launch is then targeted for 8:30 p.m. ET, Feb. 19.

The impending test comes after teams replaced a filter in ground support equipment during the weekend that was suspected of reducing the flow of liquid hydrogen during another Feb. 12 test to partially fuel the rocket.

Why did NASA delay Artemis 2 mission? Hydrogen leak in SLS

The mission slipped at least a month after NASA conducted an initial wet dress rehearsal at the beginning of February that uncovered issues with the massive 322-foot Space Launch System rocket.

NASA's elaborate launch day rehearsal ended with the discovery of a hydrogen leak within the rocket's 212-foot core stage.

Who will be on the Artemis 2 mission? Astronauts leave quarantine

The crew of Artemis 2 includes three Americans and one Canadian. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, had entered quarantine Jan. 21 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to avoid exposure to illnesses ahead of the launch.

Delaying the mission until March means the astronauts have exited quarantine at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is protocol ahead of spaceflights to ensure crews avoid exposure to illnesses. They will re-enter quarantine about two weeks ahead of the next launch opportunity before flying to the Kennedy Space Center.

What is the Artemis mission?

NASA's Artemis program is the agency's ambitious campaign to return Americans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the Apollo era came to an end in 1972.

The Artemis 2 astronauts won't be landing, but will instead circle the moon on a 10-day trip to test systems and hardware for future expeditions to the surface. The Orion capsule the crew will pilot – built by Lockheed Martin – is due to travel about 4,700 miles beyond the far side of the moon, taking its passengers the farthest humans have ever ventured in space before returning to Earth.

The mission would come more than three years after Artemis 1 launched Nov. 16, 2022, from the Kennedy Space Center, sending the Orion capsule on a moon-orbiting mission without a crew in the first test of the vehicle.

A moon landing would take place during Artemis 3, which President Donald Trump has signaled he wants to see happen before the end of his second term.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]