Fuel leak ruins NASA’s 2nd shot at launching moon rocket

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new moon rocket sprang one other harmful gas leak Saturday, forcing launch controllers to name off their second try to ship a crew capsule into lunar orbit with take a look at dummies.

The first try earlier within the week was additionally marred by escaping hydrogen, however these leaks had been elsewhere on the 322-foot rocket, probably the most highly effective ever constructed by NASA.

Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her group tried to plug Saturday’s leak the way in which they did the final time: stopping and restarting the circulate of super-cold liquid hydrogen in hopes of eradicating the hole round a seal within the provide line. They tried that twice, in actual fact, and likewise flushed helium via the road. But the leak endured.