KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  The first WDR (wet dress rehearsal) cryogenic propellant fueling test for the Artemis II moon rocket ended early overnight Feb. 2/3 when it was halted due to serious hydrogen leaks that plagued the test at multiple points throughout the day and evening.

NASA is now working to fix the hydrogen leaks which reached a dangerous 16% level at T Minus 5 minutes during the simulated Terminal Countdown.

As a result the Artemis II liftoff is now delayed to NET March  6 – as NASA evaluates the way forward.

Despite not finishing the WDR test to approx. the T Minus 30 second point in the simulated countdown, NASA teams did successfully accomplish numerous objectives.

These included loading supercold cryogenic propellant into the SLS (Space Launch System) LOX and LH2 tanks, sending a team out to the launch pad to closeout Orion, and safely draining the rocket.

“The wet dress rehearsal was a prelaunch test to fuel the rocket, designed to identify any issues and resolve them before attempting a launch,” said NASA in a blog post.

“Engineers pushed through several challenges during the two-day test and met many of the planned objectives. To allow teams to review data and conduct a second wet dress rehearsal, NASA now will target March as the earliest possible launch opportunity for the flight test.”

During the critically important WDR Wet Dress Rehearsal propellant loading test over 700,000 gals cryogenic fuels LOX and LH2 were loaded into the core and upper stages of the Artemis II rocket standing a launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis II SLS Orion rocket is destined to carry the first humans to the Moon in more than half a century since 1972 on a history making mission – now rescheduled to NET March 6.

The Artemis II crew comprises Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch of NASA, along with CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen

“Moving off a February launch window also means the Artemis II astronauts will be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on Jan. 21. As a result, they will not travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday as tentatively planned. Crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks out from the next targeted launch opportunity.”

Further details from NASA:

NASA began the approximately 49-hour countdown at 8:13 p.m. EST on Jan. 31. Leading up to, and throughout tanking operations on Feb. 2, engineers monitored how cold weather at Kennedy impacted systems and put procedures in place to keep hardware safe. Cold temperatures caused a late start to tanking operations, as it took time to bring some interfaces to acceptable temperatures before propellant loading operations began.

During tanking, engineers spent several hours troubleshooting a liquid hydrogen leak in an interface used to route the cryogenic propellant into the rocket’s core stage, putting them behind in the countdown. Attempts to resolve the issue involved stopping the flow of liquid hydrogen into the core stage, allowing the interface to warm up for the seals to reseat, and adjusting the flow of the propellant.

Teams successfully filled all tanks in both the core stage and interim cryogenic propulsion stage before a team of five was sent to the launch pad to finish Orion closeout operations. Engineers conducted a first run at terminal countdown operations during the test, counting down to approximately 5 minutes left in the countdown, before the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped the countdown due to a spike in the liquid hydrogen leak rate.

In addition to the liquid hydrogen leak, a valve associated with Orion crew module hatch pressurization, which recently was replaced, required retorquing, and closeout operations took longer than planned. Cold weather that affected several cameras and other equipment didn’t impede wet dress rehearsal activities, but would have required additional attention on launch day. Finally, engineers have been troubleshooting dropouts of audio communication channels across ground teams in the past few weeks leading up to the test. Several dropouts reoccurred during the wet dress rehearsal.

The team carried out updated procedures to purge the Orion service module’s cavities with breathing air during closeout crew operations rather than gaseous nitrogen to ensure the team assisting the crew into their seats and closing Orion’s hatches can safely operate in the White Room.

With March as the potential launch window, teams will fully review data from the test, mitigate each issue, and return to testing ahead of setting an official target launch date.

Crew safety will remain the highest priority, ensuring they return home at the end of their mission.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and  agency leaders will discuss initial results from the wet dress rehearsal during a news conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Video – watch my complete 8-minute long live interview on FOX 35 Orlando about the Artemis WDR results and launch delay:

https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/fmc-k6zn2fhrf1gk2zw7
https://www.wogx.com/video/fmc-k6zn2fhrf1gk2zw7

Caption: What Explains the Artemis II Delay? NASA held a news conference Tuesday afternoon (Feb 3, 2026) following a delay of the launch of Artemis II after a wet dress rehearsal. Ken Kremer, managing editor of Space UpClose, joined FOX 35’s Garrett Wymer live via Zoom to discuss the details

x