Failure to launch: NASA Artemis mission postponed due to leaky fuel connection

NASA on Saturday postponed the launch of its Artemis rocket, citing a leak issue in one of the engines, though the launch appeared to still be scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

"Engineers detected a liquid hydrogen leak in a quick disconnect cavity and have stopped flowing the propellant to the core stage while they troubleshoot," the agency said in a blog post earlier in the day. "Launch controllers are attempting to warm up the quick disconnect to attempt to reseat it to get a tight seal. Liquid oxygen flow is continuing."

By late Saturday morning the agency announced it was scrubbing the Saturday launch."Teams attempted to fix an issue related to a leak in the hardware transferring fuel into the rocket, but were unsuccessful," NASA wrote on Twitter.

The rocket was originally planned to launch on Monday, but problems with one of the rocket's engines delayed the departure until today.

The unmanned Artemis rocket, when it does launch, is projected to circle the moon in an exploratory mission designed to facilitate the eventual resumption of crewed lunar visits. 

On the rocket for its flight will be several mannequins as well as plant life that will serve to test the conditions of the spaceflight.