CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida –
An approaching storm is threatening to delay NASA’s next launch attempt of its new moon rocket, which has been grounded for weeks due to leaking fuel.
A tropical depression in the southern Caribbean is moving toward Florida and could become a major hurricane.
Managers said Friday that the rocket is ready to blast off Tuesday on its first test flight without astronauts, after overcoming more hydrogen leaks during a fuel test earlier this week.
NASA said it will continue to monitor the forecast and decide by Saturday whether to not only delay the launch, but take the rocket off the pad and back into the hangar. Officials said it is unclear when the next launch attempt would be, whether in October or even November, if the rocket must seek shelter indoors.
It takes three days of preparation to return the rocket to the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center, four miles away.
“I don’t think we’re closing it,” said NASA’s Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems. “We’re just taking it one step at a time.”
This would be the third launch attempt of the Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA. Fuel leaks and other technical problems ruled out the first two attempts.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket can sustain gusts of 85 mph (137 km/h) on the platform, but only 46 mph (74 km/h) once in motion.