NASA Prepares to Take Moon Rocket Off Pad Due to Helium Failure

Administrator Jared Isaacman said the necessary work ‘will take the March launch window out of consideration.’

NASA’s Orion crew capsule sits atop the Space Launch System moon rocket ahead of the Artemis II mission on Launch Complex 39-B at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Feb. 1, 2026. T.J. Muscaro/The Epoch Times

NASA’s hopes of sending astronauts around the moon as early as March 6 appear to have ended just as they began.

The space agency completed what it described as a successful wet dress rehearsal from Feb. 17–19. The four astronauts had been in pre-launch quarantine for less than a day.