NASA calls off rocket launch in Artemis project to put humans back on the Moon

The first rocket in NASA's Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon, was set to launch this afternoon but has been called off for the day due to an engine bleed that "couldn't be remedied".

The US space agency had a two-hour window for lift-off beginning at 2:33pm to 4:33pm local time. However, engineers rushed to fix two issues with the rocket before take-off, namely an intertank crack and an operational temperature issue.

The intertank crack issue was no longer considered dangerous, but engineers had to focus on bringing one of the big engines under the rock down to the correct operating temperature.

But at 2:28pm, the launch director "called a scrub for the day" due to an engine bleed, in effect cancelling the launch.

This is NASA’s most powerful rocket, known as the Space Launch System (SLS). It will launch an unmanned capsule called Orion around the back of the Moon.

Artemis I is NASA’s first integrated test of its deep space xploration technologies. It will be the first in a series of difficult missions, and will lay the groundwork for human deep space exploration.

Orion will take off on the most potent rocket in history and travel further than any human-built spacecraft has ever done during this mission.

It will travel 64,000 kilometers beyond the far side of the Moon and 450,000 kilometers from Earth during the length of the mission.

Orion will return to Earth faster and hotter than ever before after spending more time in space than any other human spaceship has without docking to a space station.

The journey will open the door for upcoming lunar-area missions, including the first landing of a woman and a person of color on the Moon's surface.