Humanity’s long-awaited return to the moon has been delayed – again – by NASA.
The American space agency revealed this morning that a fuel leak happened during the trial run of its Artemis II mission.
It added on X: ‘To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA will now target March as the earliest possible launch opportunity for the Artemis II mission.’
Yesterday, engineers filled the rocket’s propellant tanks with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
NASA said the ‘wet dress rehearsal’ was to identify any hiccups that could occur during the real launch.
The first trip to our lunar neighbour in 53 years was meant to happen ‘no earlier’ than February 6.
But it was pushed back by two days when bad weather meant the fuelling test run couldn’t happen.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
MORE: What is a Snow Moon? How to see February 2026’s full moon
MORE: The Full Moon in Leo is a confidence wake-up call — your star sign’s tarot horoscope
MORE: What would happen if a ‘city-killer’ asteroid hit the moon?
