Articles by William Harwood

NASA managers cleared the agency’s leak-bedeviled Artemis moon rocket for the start of another countdown early Monday, but engineers must resolve questions about hurricane-damaged insulation before the huge booster can be cleared for blastoff on an unpiloted moonshot.

NASA’s $4.1 billion Artemis moon rocket, exposed to the elements atop its Kennedy Space Center launch pad, was rocked by high winds and driving rain early Thursday as Hurricane Nicole roared ashore just south of the spaceport.

Faced with stormy weather ahead of soon-to-be Hurricane Ian, NASA managers Saturday ruled out a third attempt to launch the Artemis 1 moon rocket Tuesday but held open the option of making a run at blastoff on October 2, the current backup date.

Engineers are ready to reload NASA’s Artemis moon rocket with supercold fuel Wednesday to make sure a repaired liquid hydrogen quick-disconnect fitting is leak free, one of two requirements that must be met before the agency can make a third attempt to launch the huge booster September 27 on the program’s maiden moonshot.