The US space agency on Monday laid the huge stack of Artemis I back on the launch pad in Florida, having dealt with the leaks and problems that had plagued its previous attempt to power the beast in April for a previous reversal general rehearsal. As the propellant loaded on the rocket, the controllers observed a hydrogen leak in the rapid disconnection that connects a umbilical cord tissue from the tail service tissue to the mobile launcher in the rocket base stage. Such a leak would normally inhibit a real launch. When disconnection heating and then cooling again to seal alignment did not work, the team “developed a plan to hide the leak-related data,” according to NASA. The “mask” – which prevented the data from triggering a hard shutdown from the ground launch computer – allowed the tests to continue. The tanks were refilled for the first time and other critical operations were performed, including delivery from the ground launch sequencer to the automated launch sequencer controlled by the rocket flight software. The wet dress rehearsal ended in 1937 EDT. The question now is whether NASA estimates that it has completed enough test targets to sign the stack as ready for unmanned launch. If that happens, there is a chance the big rocket will launch as summer draws to a close. The issues also ruined an attempt earlier in the day to upgrade the ISS with the engine of the Northrup Grumman Cygnus NG CRS-17 truck. The test firing – scheduled for Monday at 1020 Central – was expected to take just over five minutes, but was canceled instead after five seconds. The director of the Cygnus Mission in Dallas, Virginia, said the cause of the miscarriage was “understandable” and under investigation. A second attempt could occur on June 25, which will lead to the departure of Cygnus for the station on June 28. The need to add additional restart options to the ISS has become more urgent in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, subsequent sanctions and Roscosmos crackdown on a future where the Russian service leaves the project. With the withdrawal of the US space shuttle and ESA ATV, restart options are limited. On the contrary, the ignition of Russian Progress engines is the norm. Apart from Cygnus, non-Russian restart options are limited for ISS partners. A propulsion unit was proposed as a spare for the Roscosmos Zvezda service unit and the Progress truck, but it was never completed or launched. Another possibility involves the use of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. ®