of frost so that could just be frost, it could be the result of a crack, so the teams are looking into that, but also an engine issue. engine number 3 on the core stage, the core stage is that orange huge middle part of the rocket that you see. one of the four engines is not performing as expected right now. as you pointed out there is a two-hour launch window but all of these delays have added up so it s unclear right now if the teams will be able to troubleshoot these issues but also if they would be able if they are able to troubleshoot these issues if they will be able to make up that time and make up make this launch window today. if they are not able to make this launch window there is another potential launch date of september 2nd, also a backup to the backup of september 5th. i want to remind our viewers that this is a test launch here and that rocket behind me has never flown. so there have been several issues that nasa has dealt with over the years in terms of,
the artemis program aims to land humans on the unexplored lunar south pole of the moon in the next few years and ultimately serve as a way to get to mars. nasa administrator bill nelson says we re returning to the moon to live, work and survive. let s get right to the kennedy space center, cnn s space and defense correspondent kristin fisher is there. kristen, how are we looking so far? reporter: it is too soon to say, john. nasa has already successfully troubleshooted two big issues this morning, that s the good news. the first issue was they made it through some pretty severe potential lightning storms that were a little too close to the launch pad for comfort for fueling, and then the other big issue was they encountered a hydrogen link leak during the fueling of that big main core stage, that s that burnt orange main part of the rocket that you can see on the launch pad. they encountered some similar issues during previous tests, but this time they were successfully a
Astronauts to the moon for the apollo xvii mission. it is planning to land on the south pole and serve as a way to get to mars. let s get to the kennedy space center. rachel crane is there with the very latest. okay. so what is the very latest here, rachel, because this seems a bit up in the air. reporter: yeah, it s looking a little dubious right now, john and brianna. the teams have worked several technical issues over the last few hours, they also have been dealing with some weather delays, potential lightning strikes delayed the propellant loading about 45 minutes but then they noticed a hydrogen leak as they were going through the pre launch checks. also now they are dealing with two issues in parallel, they have identified a potential crack in the inter tank flange, they ve noticed that as a result