Fuel leaks the beauty of the moon again or delayed for several weeks launch

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 4th. The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (hereinafter referred to as the United States Space Agency) said on the 3rd that the "Space Launch System" in the new -generation moon landing rocket in the United States was canceled and launched on the same day due to fuel leakage. This is the second time the rocket was canceled and launched due to faults in a week. The first time I tried to launch, it was necessary to wait until mid -October.

The launch was originally scheduled to be at 14:17 on the 3rd on the 3rd (2:17 on the 4th, 4th Beijing time). The Rockets launch the "Orion" spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the two -hour window period. Execute "Artemis 1" unmanned flight test task.

According to the Associated Press, the launch task team began to add ultra -low temperature liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel to the Rockets on the day of dawn, but it didn't take long, a large amount of liquid hydrogen leakage suddenly appeared at the engine part of the rocket.

This is the new generation of large thrust carrin rocket "Space Launch System" and the "Orion" spacecraft installed on the top of the Rockets on April 2nd in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Xinhua News Agency (Photo Conferring in the United States Aerospace)

According to the US digital trend website, the leak occurred at around 7:30 in the morning. The engineers then blocked liquid hydrogen flow and re -sealed the relevant parts, but when the fuel flowed again, the leakage problem was reproduced. At that time, 56%of the liquid oxygen tank had been injected, and the liquid hydrogen irrigation was injected 8%. In order to increase the pressure of the pipeline, engineers once added pipes to the transportation pipeline. After trying to solve the problem 3 times before and after, at 11:17 on the 3rd local time, the person in charge of the launch mission Charlie Blackwell Thompson announced the cancellation of the launch.

Mike Salafin, a mission manager of "Artemis 1", told the media reporter that the reason for judging the leak is too early. However, he believes that it may be related to sending an error instruction to the transmitter pushing agent loading system that day. The instruction caused an accidental overweight pressure of the liquid hydrogen pipeline for several seconds, and the pressure value exceeded twice the normal value.

Salafen said that when the hydrogen concentration in the air exceeds about 4%, there is a risk of flammable, and the amount of liquid hydrogen leaked this time is large, resulting in the hydrogen concentration in the surrounding air between 8%and 12%. " This is not a controllable leak. "

This is the new generation of large thrust carrin rocket "Space Launch System" and the "Orion" spacecraft installed on the top of the Rockets on April 2nd in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Xinhua News Agency (Photo Conferring in the United States Aerospace)

According to the New York Times, when the "Space Launch System" was postponed due to failure on August 29, liquid hydrogen leakage also occurred, but the leakage was small. In addition, the engine and solid rocket aids used by the "Space Launch System" are basically the same as the American aerospace aircraft. The research and development time of related technologies can be traced back to about half a century ago. Passion.

According to Salafen, in order to solve the latest technical problems, it is necessary to "work for several weeks." U.S. Aerospace Director Bill Nelson said earlier on the 3rd that if the launch plan was canceled, it would take at least at least until mid -October, partly because the schedule of the scheduled schedule set to the international space station in early next month will Conflicts occur.

According to Reuters, in the space field, it is not uncommon for delay and failure on the day of launch. On average, any reasons such as weather have caused the probability that the launch is canceled is about one -third.

"Artemis" is a new moon landing plan announced in 2019. It was originally planned to send US astronauts to the moon again by 2024. Due to insufficient budgets, the US Aerospace Administration announced last November that US astronauts returned to the moon may be postponed one year than the original plan, and the earliest month in 2025. Before the astronauts landed, the American Astronautic Agency plans to conduct a manned around the moon flying test code -named "Artemise 1" and code -named "Artemis 2". (Wang Xinfang)

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