Miami, US, Feb 14 (EFE).- SpaceX has postponed the launch of a Moon lander due to a fuel issue, hours before its scheduled take-off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Odysseus Moon lander was to launch on Space X Falcon 9 rocket at 12:57 am Wednesday and is now rescheduled take-off at 1:05 am on Thursday.
The delay was caused by a temperature issue with the spacecraft’s liquid methane fuel.
“Standing down from tonight’s attempt due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load,” SpaceX said on social media platform X.
The lander built by Houston-based company Intuitive Machines carries six NASA payloads to explore the lunar South Polar region.
Last week, both SpaceX and Intuitive Machines had successfully completed loading tests on the launch pad without any major issues.
The Odysseus module remains poised in the rocket’s fairing. If the module is launched on Thursday, it is expected to reach the lunar surface on Feb. 22, which would be the first American Moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA said on Tuesday that its instruments aboard the lander would “conduct scientific research and demonstrate technologies to help us better understand the Moon’s environment.”
The spacecraft, which also carries scientific instruments from other private firms, will land near the Malapert A crater, about 300 km from the lunar south pole, an area full of uncertainty according to NASA experts.
This is the second mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, where private companies can bid on delivering NASA payloads to the Moon.
In January, the Peregrine lunar module, also carrying NASA’s instruments, failed to land on the Moon due to propellant loss from a fuel leak. EFE
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